Within the Tomato Garden
by rissysaur
Summary: Gakuen AU. Lovino Vargas moves to America where he is going to high school. Antonio Carriedo, another student at the school, immediately takes interest in the new Italian boy, which leads to something unexpected... Spamano, with other pairings
1. Chapter 1

As the first bell of the day rang, signaling the start of class, Lovino Vargas took his seat in the math room, keeping his head down so people wouldn't stare at him. With his backpack slung over his shoulders, he slumped down in the chair, looking over the other kids in the room. It was the first day of school, and they were all laughing and meeting up with friends from last year, talking about their summer breaks. Lovino was new to the school, having moved from Italy to an international school in America. Being the anti-social person he was, Lovino hadn't tried to meet new people before the year started, thus leaving him alone at school.

Feliciano, Lovino's brother, was a year younger than him, a freshman, so they didn't have any classes together. This was fine by him, because he knew Feliciano could definitely be a pain in the ass. The math class Lovino was in was a mix of sophomores and juniors. He was taking out his notebook when he heard somebody behind him.

"Hola!" The boy said. He was tall, with brown hair, and tan skin. He had green eyes, and was wearing a t-shirt from Spain. "I'm Antonio, what's your name?"

"B-bastard," Lovino hissed, jumping in his seat. "What the hell do you want?"

"Whoa, hold on," the Spanish boy put his hands up. "I'm just trying to be friendly. Are you new here?"

"So what if I am?" Lovino didn't like the way the stupid boy was talking to him. Why couldn't he just leave him alone?

"Calm down! I've never seen you around here so I just wanted to introduce myself." At that moment, the teacher called attention to the class and began to take attendance. Lovino turned around, annoyed. Stupid Spaniard.

Lovino was now even unhappier with the fact that his family moved. He hadn't wanted to leave Italy. Back home he had everything he needed: a tomato garden, lots of pasta, and even a couple of friends. Here there wasn't space for him to grow tomatoes so that he could make homemade pasta. And he didn't have any friends. Not that he needed any.

The teacher introduced himself as Mr. Moore, and started to go over the curriculum for the school year. While the teacher was speaking, Lovino heard crunching behind him, and turned around to see Antonio chomping on a tomato.

"Bastard!" he whisper-shouted. "Can't you eat that thing when the teacher isn't talking?"

"Sorry," Antonio mumbled through a mouthful of tomato, and put the fruit back in his bag. _Was he blushing slightly?_ Lovino turned around to listen to the teacher again slightly envious of that tomato. It looked nice and ripe. When the bell rang to dismiss him from class, he practically sprinted out the door. The faster he got away from that tomato bastard, the better! But as he was walking quickly down the hall, Lovino crashed into someone, knocking both of their bags to the floor.

"Dammit!" Lovino shouted. "Why'd you run into me?"

"Excuse me, but you were the one who was running through the hall." The boy he had run into had messy blond hair, a British accent, and _huge_ eyebrows, but Lovino didn't care. Stupid bastard had crashed into him.

"Whatever," he said, and continued walking to his next class. His mood was even worse than it had been two minutes ago. Stupid American schools with their stupid international bastards.

* * *

><p>He sat through his history class, a class he knew he would hate from the moment he walked into the room, and tapped his pencil against the side of his desk. Lovino didn't even notice all the dirty looks he was getting from the people seated nearby him. Not that any of them had wanted to sit by him in the first place, there just weren't any other seats.<p>

When history ended, Lovino headed to his English class, only to find out that the British boy from earlier was in the same class, and the teacher had paired them up for a project. A project! On the first day of school? It was only his third class of the day and Lovino already hated his new school.

"Hello," the British boy said curtly, breaking Lovino away from his thoughts. "I'm Arthur Kirkland, what's your name?"

"Lovino," he told the boy. Arthur. "Lovino Vargas."  
>"Are you new here?"<p>

Dammit, he was just like the tomato bastard! "Yes, is there a problem?"

"No," Arthur frowned, a bit annoyed by the Italian's tone.

"Well good. Let's start this project. The sooner we finish, the sooner I stop talking to you," Lovino knew that he was being rude, but he didn't like how everyone he talked to was asking him if he was new. _I bet Feliciano isn't having this kind of trouble_, he thought bitterly. Stupid Feliciano with his stupid smiling face. Arthur shrugged as he looked at Lovino, not bothering to talk to him because he knew he'd probably end up dead or something. They started to work on their project together, analyzing the parts of a Shakespeare poem. Arthur wasn't having any trouble at all reading the poem, and Lovino bet that he read Shakespeare in his spare time. …Which turned out to be true.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day passed slowly and tediously for Lovino, and all his were boring. He ate lunch in silence with Feliciano (after his brother had continued to beg him), not pleased with his little brother's new choice in friends. There was a German, who was a sophomore like Lovino, who Lovino just didn't like. He didn't know why. And then there was Kiku, a small, reserved Japanese boy, who was the same age as Feliciano. He was okay, Lovino decided. But he definitely didn't like that German, Ludwig. How in the world had that obnoxious kid even managed to make friends so quickly? Lovino could hardly stand him and they were brothers!<p>

After lunch Lovino had gym, and was glad he didn't eat much during lunch, because his gym teacher was a sit-up bastard and made him do one hundred sit-ups for looking angry. So what if he looked angry? Lovino didn't want to be there! Everyone expected him to look like happy-little-Feliciano, the perfect child. _Fuck them all, _Lovino thought sourly_. _He stormed from the gym to the science lab as soon as that class let out, only to find out his teacher was a psychopath and he was stuck with a creepy French pervert as his lab partner. He even wore his hair in a ponytail. Oh, it was going to be a lovely year. Over the course of forty-five minutes, the French dude (whose name Lovino didn't know, and didn't want to know) had put his hand way too high up on Lovino's leg way too many times.

"You fucking pervert." The French kid didn't seem bothered at all, but instead smirked, winked, and blew a kiss at Lovino. Shuddering, Lovino bolted out of the room faster than he had when he left math class earlier that day. What the hell was wrong with everybody at this school? Thank God there was only one class left for the day.

However, when he arrived at his last class of the day, Spanish, Lovino was assigned a seat in the back of the room, and his luck just gave out on him right then and there. Just when he thought his day couldn't get any worse. His jaw dropped.

He couldn't believe who he was stuck sitting next to, of all people.

* * *

><p>AN: So, here's a little fanfiction I decided to write... It's my first story, so I'm not expecting it to be the best thing ever xD I already have a couple of chapters done, but I won't put them up right away. Hopefully updates will be almost daily or every other day. I hope everyone enjoys this story!

Disclaimer: If I owned Hetalia, why would I be writing a fanfiction?


	2. Chapter 2

"Hola, amigo."

Lovino was about ready to get up and just walk out of the room. _How the fuck did I end up getting this guy in my class, and why would the teacher put us next to each other? _Putting his hands over his face, Lovino did the best he could to try and stay calm and in his seat. The tomato bastard just moved his seat closer to Lovino, and the latter tried as hard as he could to not move over or punch him in the face. If he thought dealing with the pervert (whose name he still didn't know) in science was hard, how would he live with the fucking tomato bastard behind him in math _and_ next to him in Spanish?

"I still don't know your name yet." The voice startled Lovino, and his face got red.

"D-dammit, don't do that! Why do you want to know my name so badly anyways?"

Antonio shrugged. "I just figured that if I sat by you in two classes, I might as well learn your name. Is that so much to ask?"  
>Lovino glared at him, and said, "Yes. It's none of your business."<br>"Okay then, 'none of your business'," Antonio smirked.

"Fuck you!"

The teacher started calling attendance at this point, stopping Antonio and Lovino's conversation, much to the latter's relief.

"Lovino Vargas?"

"Here," Lovino muttered, and Antonio smirked again, finally learning the Italian boy's name.

"Lovino, is it? You could have just told me that in the first place."

"Shut up."  
>"It's a cute name."<p>

"I said shut up."

"Why do you hate me so much? You only just met me!"

"Because you're an idiot and you're annoying."  
>Antonio was quiet. He didn't think the Italian boy was telling the truth, because his face turned a deep shade of red when Antonio asked the question. When Lovino didn't say anything else, Antonio sighed and the former turned even redder, if possible.<p>

Dammit, why did that bastard keep talking to him? He didn't want to talk to anybody! _Why the hell am I blushing?_ Lovino let the breath he didn't know he was holding escape him, and Antonio looked at him again, causing Lovino to turn even redder. He shrugged, turning his head back to face the teacher who was standing at the front of the room, talking about something Antonio didn't care about.

"You look like a tomato," Antonio whispered, smiling.

"Sh-shut the fuck up, you bastard."

_He has a nice smile,_ Lovino thought. _W-wait, what the hell am I thinking? He doesn't have a nice smile; he's an annoying tomato bastard! What the fuck? Why is he even smiling at me? Creep!_

At this point Lovino was blushing furiously, and Antonio tried the best he could to ignore the Italian boy. Even if he was cute… He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the teacher, but just couldn't. She was speaking in Spanish, and Antonio sucked at Spanish, even if his family was from Spain. Lovino, on the other hand, seemed to be absentmindedly doodling in his notebook, the blush still not entirely gone from his face. He was ignoring the teacher, almost as if what she said was boring and he already knew it all. Coming from Italy, Antonio wouldn't be surprised if the boy was good at Spanish.

_Maybe_…

Antonio drifted into a daydream, and it seemed as if the whole classroom ceased to exist as he came up with a scenario that probably wouldn't ever happen. He barely even noticed when the bell rang, and it was only thanks to Lovino that he realized the day was over. Shaking his head, Antonio picked up his bag and left the room, heading home for the day.

* * *

><p>Finally, the first day was over. Lovino couldn't wait to go home and take his usual siesta. Unfortunately for him, Feliciano caught up with him on the walk home, and wouldn't shut up.<p>

"Ah, fratello, how was your day at school? Mine was excellent! I made so many new friends! I saw you hanging out with Antonio when I walked by your math class this morning, are you two friends now? Oh, fratello, it is so nice to see that you have made friends!"

Lovino had stopped in his tracks when his brother mentioned that tomato bastard. "Feliciano, I'm not friends with that tomato bastard."

"Hmm? Antonio? That's not what he told me and Ludwig~!"

Oh god. That potato bastard. Then Feliciano started going on and on about his new friend, the wonderful potato bastard that Lovino hated already. "Just shut up already, Feli. I don't care." With that being said, he left Feliciano behind with that stupid smile on his stupid face, and walked home. Lovino crashed on his bed the moment he walked into his room, not even bothering to take his shoes off. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, and he wanted to forget about everything that had happened that day, starting with the tomato bastard. Slowly, he drifted off into sleep, but was awoken what seemed like seconds later by his mother calling him down for dinner.

Getting out of bed, Lovino walked over to the mirror and looked at his reflection, trying to straighten out his hair, but that one curl just stuck up on the side of his head. He wouldn't bother trying to fix it. Instead he walked out of his room and went downstairs for dinner.

_Oh great_, he thought. _Feliciano's made pasta. Now I get to hear about great his day was, along with how great his pasta is_. Not that he didn't like Feliciano's pasta. Lovino was just tired and had a huge headache, and really didn't want to listen to his brother's rambling while his mother seemed to ignore her eldest son's existence. Because that's what always happened. Lovino was amazed that she even remembered to call him down for dinner most nights.

Lovino downed his dinner quickly then went back up to his room to start his homework. When he pulled out his Spanish notebook, he saw something sticking out of the top, and pulled it out, frowning. It was a note.

_I'm sorry_.

Lovino was confused. I'm sorry? Who had written this note? Shrugging, he tucked it into his backpack and continued doing his homework. He realized that he would have to get together with Arthur outside of school sometime and work on their English assignment, and Lovino really didn't want to do it. At least Arthur didn't seem as bad as some of the other kids in the school. He could have been paired with Alfred, that annoying airhead who thought he knew everything about American history because he was somehow related to George Washington or whatever.

After finishing his homework, Lovino decided that he just needed to go to sleep. It had been a long day, and he definitely wasn't looking forward to going to school tomorrow. It took a while, but after what felt like hours, Lovino drifted off into sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Here's chapter two! Thank you so much to everybody who reviewed and added this story to their favorites/alerts! I hope you all like the story so far and chapter three should be up tomorrow! Also a huge thanks to Stacy Dustin, who is helping me edit this! She's writing a story called _Love? I'd Call it Pity_. Check it out at http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/7124275/1/bLove_b_bId_b_bCall_b_it_bPity_b**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Hetalia. Except for a copy of the first volume of the manga, but that's about it.**


	3. Chapter 3

Bright sunlight filtered in through the curtains, waking Lovino from his sleep. Grumbling, he got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. It was way too early to be getting up. In Italy, school hadn't started until nine in the morning, but in America it started at seven. He turned the shower on and got in after undressing, letting the hot water run over his body and loosen up his muscles. After washing and standing under the stream of water for almost half an hour, the water started to turn cold, so Lovino got out and began to get ready for school.

Lovino had managed to leave the house before Feliciano, so his walk to school was quiet. As he was walking, whom did he almost run into, but the wonderful tomato bastard, Antonio. Just his luck, of course.

"Dammit!" Lovino cursed.

"Good morning! Wow, I wasn't expecting to see you this early. Do you live nearby?"

"To hell with where I live. Why are you here?"

"Uh, well, this is kind of my house…"

"Oh," was all Lovino could say.

"Well, would you like to see my tomato garden?" Lovino looked up when Antonio said this. Did he really just ask him that? Lovino wanted to refuse, but the temptation won him over.

"O-okay." He did not just stutter, no way.

Antonio led him around the back of the house, to a huge backyard. The yard was covered with rows of tomato plants, ripe tomatoes growing all over the place. They looked lovely. Without thinking, Lovino reached over and touched one, his mouth opened in a little 'o'. This must be where Antonio had gotten the his tomato from. The one he had been eating in class yesterday.

"You can have it," Antonio said with a chuckle.

Surprisingly, Lovino took the tomato, grumbling a 'thank you', and ate it. It wasn't bad, he had to admit. Okay, it was delicious. Antonio smiled at him, and made a mental note of the fact that Lovino seemed to really enjoy tomatoes.

"What are you looking at?" Lovino demanded after finishing the tomato.

"Uh, I…" Antonio looked away, feeling his face get hot.

Lovino picked up his bag from where he had dropped it, and slung it over his shoulders. "Alright, well I'm going to school now. I don't want to be late."  
>"Wait, I'll come with you! Just hold on, I'll grab my bag from inside really quickly."<p>

Lovino sighed, not wanting to be rude. Antonio had just given him a tomato, so he decided to be nice and wait for him. As much as he didn't want to.

* * *

><p>Antonio walked back into his house rather quickly, slamming the door shut a little bit too hard, and leaned against the door for a second, taking a deep breath. Hopefully he hadn't woken up his mother. Why had he even asked Lovino to come see his garden? He never showed it to anyone! Let alone let anyone eat his precious tomatoes… And why had he asked Lovino to walk to school with him? He should have just assumed the Italian boy would have refused and told him he'd see him in class. No matter how much he tried to deny it, there was something about the Italian that he just kept coming back at. His attitude, his figure, the way he blushed when Antonio stared at him, and that <em>smile<em>. Oh god, the smile. Antonio smashed his head against the wall. What was he thinking? The kid was a jerk. Antonio had tried to be nice to him, but he just kept bitching for absolutely no reason. Besides, he'd known him for less than twenty-four hours. But still… Picking up his bag, Antonio quickly walked back outside to Lovino, who was waiting for him, beginning to look impatient.

"Took you long enough."  
>"Sorry about that, Lovi, I really am." Wait. Did he just call him Lovi? Shit.<p>

"What did you just call me?" Lovino stopped dead, staring at the older Spanish boy, who scratched his head.

"Uh, sorry. I meant Lovino. Sorry."

"Whatever. Just don't call me that ever again, or else." Antonio was surprised that he was being let off so easily. Lovino sure was in a strange mood.

The rest of their walk to school was pretty quiet, because every time Antonio tried to start a conversation, Lovino ignored him, told him to shut up, or just gave him short answers. Why was he so difficult? Antonio just wanted to be friends with him…

During math, the teacher decided to give everyone a pop quiz to see what they remembered from last year. Antonio finished it within minutes, and was forced to sit in his seat looking around at all the other students, because he was the first one done. Math was by far the Spaniard's favorite class. The numbers and equations just came naturally, and he had no trouble whatsoever. He noticed that Lovino seemed to be struggling with the quiz, though, but just tried to ignore it. The Italian would kill him if he found out Antonio had been staring at him.

* * *

><p><em>Oh, fuck<em>, Lovino thought. A pop quiz. Great. Just what he needed. Math was _not_ his best subject. In fact, math was probably Lovino's weakest point. Nothing clicked, and every single teacher he'd ever had sucked, and he was never able to understand what was going on. Now in a stupid American school, Lovino was sure he'd fail this class. He'd never seen any problems like this when he lived in Italy! Oh God, how was he going to pass? Lovino tried the best he could to complete the quiz, and when he finally finished, class was about to be dismissed, and he was sure he had bombed it. What a great way to start the school year.

To make matters even worse, Antonio had finished the quiz thirty minutes before Lovino had, and the latter was sure he could feel the tomato bastard's eyes on the back of his neck while he tried to compute the numbers. Lovino sulked on his way to history, and put his head on his hands when he took his seat, not wanting to listen to that stupid American, Alfred, ramble about crap Lovino didn't care about. He didn't care about anything right now. All he wanted was a tomato, just like the one- Oh God, why was he thinking about Antonio and his tomatoes? Lovino really needed to clear his head, and tried to pay attention to what the teacher was talking about. Something about the Civil War, or whatever. Who cared?

Again, Lovino had to work with Arthur on their English project, but this time he didn't mind so much. Arthur seemed to think the same way Lovino did. Everyone was annoying. They agreed to meet up at Arthur's house after school that day to work on their English project, but by the end of class, they didn't have much more to do. Arthur was good at analyzing Shakespeare poems, and there were only about two poems left to do. After that, all they had to do was write their own poem. Lovino was actually looking forward to meeting Arthur after school, because he thought they might actually be able to become friends. Not that he'd ever admit it. The British boy had even offered Lovino to join him for lunch.

* * *

><p>Lunch was quiet, and Lovino realized that Arthur was a quiet boy, but you didn't want to get on his bad side. He was truly a very smart person, but he wasn't the most social butterfly in the school, and had quite a temper. Lovino liked that, because it meant they could eat their lunch in peace. However, Lovino was quick to learn that Arthur had a thing for Alfred, the stupid American, so he would sometimes show up at their table, being the obnoxious kid he was. Sure, he was nice and all, but he didn't know when to shut up. When he turned around, Lovino caught Antonio watching him eat, but he quickly turned away when he noticed that the Italian boy caught him. Lovino's face began to turn red as he went back to eating. Thankfully Arthur hadn't noticed.<p>

Just when he thought his day was starting to turn out okay, Lovino went to gym. That fucking sit-up bastard seemed to have it out for Lovino, and made him do one hundred sit-ups again for coming to class with one shoe untied. Cursing, Lovino glared at the gym teacher, earning himself another one hundred sit-ups. By the end of class, Lovino wanted to smash his fist through the wall, and it was only through great restraint that he didn't.

He really didn't want to go to Spanish, but what choice did he have? It was the second day of school, and Lovino couldn't blow off a class just yet. Besides, Antonio would freak out and tell the teacher that he had been in class earlier. Fucking Antonio. Why did he keep thinking of that tomato bastard?

Lovino looked up because the seat next to him kept moving. He was trying to complete a worksheet, but the tomato bastard couldn't sit still, and was clutching his hair with one hand, a frustrated look on his face. Lovino couldn't help but notice that Antonio seemed to be struggling with the assignment. _Wait a second_, the Italian thought. _Isn't Antonio from Spain…?_ Oh well, he'd always known the bastard was stupid. Packing his stuff up while waiting for the bell to ring, Lovino couldn't help but slip another look at the frustrated Spaniard, who was still struggling with his worksheet.

"Ellos escribiendo," Lovino muttered. Antonio glanced up. He looked as surprised as Lovino felt.

"Uh, thanks," Antonio said, blinking and writing the answer down.

"Well, uh, I guess it's a thanks for that tomato. But don't expect me to help you every time. 'Cause I won't." Lovino couldn't believe that he had told Antonio the answer, and he pretended to look for something in his backpack so Antonio couldn't see his face.

* * *

><p>When class ended, Lovino made his way towards the cafeteria, where he'd planned to meet up with Arthur, after telling Feliciano where he was going. Antonio saw Lovino meet up with Arthur, and couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Why was Lovino hanging out with Arthur? They couldn't be friends!<p>

Of course Lovino could have friends, Antonio argued with himself. _But why Arthur? After all the times I've tried to talk to him, and he chooses Arthur, the freak with the caterpillar eyebrows?_ Saddened, Antonio made his way home, kicking a stone the entire way.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, I know I said chapter 3 would be up tomorrow, but I forgot that my dad's going to be in Virginia till Friday, so I won't have a computer. And since chapter four isn't done, the next update may not be till Saturday. Also, this chapter wasn't edited so please excuse any mistakes. I really hope you guys are liking the story! This has been my favorite chapter so far :3**

**Disclaimer: As far as I know, Hetalia is still owned by the same guy as before. And I'm a girl. So uh, no, I don't own it.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Hello," Arthur said.

"Hello," Lovino replied, shifting his weight from his right foot to his left foot. He had just told Feliciano that he was going to Arthur's house, and Feliciano had hugged him, with a squeal of, "Yay! Fratello has made a friend!" while Ludwig, Kiku, Alfred, and a bunch of other kids just stared at them. After pushing away his brother and muttering something about having plenty of friends, Lovino made his way to the cafeteria to meet Arthur. The two walked quietly to Arthur's house, not having much to say. They began working on their project right away, and were finished in a matter of hours.

"You know, it's nice to have someone to work on a project with for once," Arthur suddenly said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Lovino looked up from their paper and blinked, asking, "What do you mean?"

"I normally hate class projects. Nobody ever wants to work with me, and nobody ever comes over to my house…" he trailed off, and Lovino just looked at him.

"Arthur…"

"Forget it, I shouldn't have said that-"  
>"No, Arthur. I know what you mean. It's always been the same way for me. I've always been Feliciano's shadow, so it's nice to be able to come over here and work with you on this project." And for once, Lovino smiled. "T-thanks for having me over, I guess…"<p>

"Really?" Lovino nodded. "Well… thanks for coming. And actually helping me out with this. I… I think we should hang out some time, i-if that's okay with you…"  
>"What, Alfred won't get mad at you, will he?" Lovino laughed.<p>

"W-what! I don't know what you're talking about! And if I were you, I wouldn't be talking, because everyone knows about you and Ant-" Arthur stopped himself when he saw the bewildered look on Lovino's face that had replaced the rare smile.

"That tomato bastard? What about him? I don't even know him, and he's following me around everywhere… There's nothing going on between us."

"Uh, yeah, uhh… I meant there's nothing going on between Alfred and I, so…"

"Well, I better be going, then. I need to be home for dinner." Arthur was going to ask him to stay over, but decided not to, realizing that Lovino didn't want to be here any longer. He shouldn't have let that thing about Antonio slip. Shit.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow?" Arthur's thoughts were interrupted.

"Yeah, I'll see you then," and he smiled as Lovino left the house and headed down the street.

* * *

><p>The moment Lovino walked through the door, he was tackled by Feliciano, who wanted to give him a hug.<p>

"Dammit you bastard, let me go!"

"Ve~ It's so good to see you, Lovino! I was getting worried!"

"Feliciano, I told you I was going to Arthur's house after school!"

"Oh yeah! Fratello made a friend!"

"Shut up, I have plenty of friends!" They argued until Lovino pulled a tomato out of his backpack and threw it in Feliciano's face.

"Ow, Lovino~"

"Shut up, you just made me waste a perfectly good tomato!" Lovino snapped and went to his room.

Throwing his bag on the bed, Lovino smashed his head against the wall in frustration. First Arthur had brought up that tomato bastard, and then Feliciano had pretty much assaulted him when he got home. He was grumpy, tired and hungry, never a good combination for an Italian. Grumbling, Lovino made his way downstairs to the kitchen and made himself some pasta.

Closing the refrigerator door, Lovino sighed as he realized that he was going to have to go shopping soon. He did all of the grocery shopping since his mother was busy with work, and Feliciano would get lost walking down the block. They were almost out of tomatoes, and that was _never_ a good thing. The tomatoes sold at the grocery store were all mushy and bruised, and didn't taste fresh at all. Lovino really hated the tomatoes from the store, but where else would he get them?

_Unless_… No. There was absolutely no way. Why had he even had that thought? Fuck no. No way on Earth. Never ever. He would _not_ ask that tomato bastard for tomatoes if his life depended on it. They had been delicious… But there was no way Lovino would ever ask the bastard for some tomatoes. If Antonio had offered, on the other hand, Lovino would never say no…

Why the hell would the tomato bastard even offer fresh tomatoes to the Italian? Lovino had been nothing but rude since the moment they had met… Yesterday. He still seemed pretty dense though, but Lovino didn't get his hopes up. Sighing, he put his bowl in the sink and went back to his room, closing the door and sliding down on the floor. He put his head in his hands and just sat there for what felt like five minutes. It could have been only thirty seconds, but at this point Lovino didn't know or care.

He hated this school, this town, stupid fucking _America_ in general. Lovino just wanted to go home to his own beautiful tomato garden, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. All he wanted to do was cry, but he wasn't going to, because he wasn't a sobbing bastard like his brother, dammit. Lovino had more dignity than that. At the same time, he knew it didn't matter if he cried or not, because nobody cared enough to actually do something about it. Nobody cared enough to talk to him or even figure out what was wrong. Feliciano was too stupid, and their mother didn't care about him.

Realizing this, Lovino actually did start to cry. He needed to let it all out, and now was just the time to do it. Antonio watched the retreating figures of Arthur and Lovino as he stood, leaning up against the school building. Why should he care if Lovino was going home with Arthur? _He walked with me to school this morning._ So? That didn't mean anything. It didn't mean Lovino actually liked him. The kid was an asshole, after all, and Antonio had only known him for two days. Two days, and he already knew the Italian was a jerk. But still… there was something about the look on his face when Antonio had showed him his tomato garden, and he knew that deep down inside, Lovino couldn't be all that bad. However, Lovino made it clear that he didn't like Antonio, so why couldn't he just give up?

* * *

><p>"Yo Toni!" Antonio jumped a little, surprised by the sudden voice of his best friend, Gilbert, coming up to him. Where was Francis? "Toni?"<p>

"Oh, hey Gilbert," Antonio said quieter than usual, shaken from his trance.

"Sup bro?"

"Nothing, nothing." He cracked a smile.  
>"Yeah right. Toni, something's wrong and we both know it. Where's your little Italian boyfriend?" At this Antonio stood bolt upright, smile faltering, but still plastered onto his face.<p>

"What?" Had Gilbert really just asked him that?

"Y'know, the little asshole you were hanging out with earlier. Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about."  
>"He's not my boyfriend, Gilbert," Antonio sighed and rubbed his forehead.<p>

"Rightttt. You stare at him during lunch, and you even came to school with him this morning! You don't need to keep secrets from your best friend. It's obvious that you like him, and-"

"Gilbert. He is not my boyfriend. I bumped into him on the way to school this morning, so we walked together. I was being polite. And I most certainly do _not_ stare at him during lunch… Besides, I've only known him for two days."

"Come on, Antonio, haven't you ever heard of love at first sight? I mean, just look at me and Liz!" Gilbert smirked, looking pleased with himself.

"Oh yeah, Liz loves you. That explains why she hits you with a frying pan every time you look at her, and she tails after Roderich."  
>"Pleeease," Gilbert dismissed, waving a hand. "She hits me 'cause she's trying to flirt. And don't get me started on that priss. Anyone would choose the awesome me over that loser."<p>

"Whatever, Gil, it's useless trying to argue with you." Antonio spit, walking away. He never talked to anyone like this, especially his friends.

"JUST ADMIT IT, TONI!" Gilbert called, but Antonio ignored him.

It made him wonder though… Did he like the always-irate little Italian? It couldn't be… But he knew, deep down inside, that Gilbert was right. Gilbert was usually right about this kind of stuff, but Antonio would never tell him that.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the late update! I told you guys I would have it up yesterday but didn't really have time to get it edited since it was my editor's birthday. But I'm planning on having updates probably every two to three days!**

**Notes on this chapter... I don't really like it x.x It's kinda a filler... But I hope you guys like it! Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, and story alerts! It really makes my day when I get a new email! Thank you to everyone who's reading this!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Lovino Vargas, Antonio Carriedo, please see me after class." What? What did the math teacher need? It couldn't be about...

Two months had passed since school started. Two months of being pestered by that tomato bastard, two months of American school, two months of boring-as-fuck school. Lovino couldn't stand it.

Things had changed, though. Lovino and Arthur had become pretty good friends, and Arthur and Alfred had even started going out, even if Lovino disagreed. He had also befriended a girl from Belgium, named Bella, and a shy Canadian named Matthew. And Antonio was still trying to befriend the feisty Italian. After all...

Lovino tapped his pencil against his desk, thinking of all the possible reasons he could be staying after class. When the class was finally over, Lovino took his time packing up his stuff and going to the front of the room, refusing to make eye contact with Antonio.

"Yes, Mr Moore?" Antonio had asked when Lovino made his way over.

"Ah, I need to talk to you two," he said. "Mr. Vargas, as you probably already know, your grade in this class isn't so hot." Lovino paled, and his hands clutched the desk, making his knuckles turn white. "If you don't manage to get your grade up, you are going to fail this class. Mr. Carriedo, I would like for you to tutor him."

Antonio's eyes widened, but Lovino took a second to respond.

"WHAT?" he practically screamed. "You want HIM to tutor me? I don't need a tutor!" Antonio looked at him, hope and hurt in his eyes, but kept his mouth shut.

"Mr. Vargas, I will not let you fail this class. Either Mr. Carriedo here teaches you, or you will be taking a trip to the principal's office to tell him about this issue. Is that clear?"

Lovino looked furious, and didn't respond. He nodded his head once, and looked away. Dammit, why did he get the tomato bastard as a tutor of all the students in the class?

"Yes, sir," Antonio said. The teacher must have asked a question, but Lovino hadn't heard it. The two were dismissed from class, and Lovino was furious.

"Lovi-"

"Shut up. I don't want to talk to you. And you're not helping me, got it?"

"Lovino, listen to me." The Italian boy was taken aback by Antonio's serious tone, and he turned around to listen to him. "My grade is at stake here as much as yours is. If I don't help you, I'll get in trouble. Plus-"

He stopped. "Plus what?"

"Never mind."

"Tell me, bastard, or your grade is going down the drain."

Antonio looked a bit embarrassed, then mumbled, "I was wondering if you could help me with Spanish."

"What?" Lovino was confused. Even after seeing Antonio struggle a little bit in the class, Lovino never thought it was that bad.

"My grade is slipping, and I need help..."

"What the hell? Isn't your family from Spain? How the fuck are you failing Spanish? Why don't you just ask them for help?" Antonio laughed a bit at this.

"Yes, my parents are from Spain, but I myself do not know the language very well. I never took the opportunity to start learning it at a young age. And if I fail the class, they will not be very pleased with me."

"Well why should I care?"

"Lovi, I'm helping you with math. Please help me, I need it just as much as you need help with math. It can be our secret, I promise. No one will know about this, not even Francis or Gilbert."

"Don't call me Lov-"

"HEY TONI!" Speak of the devils. They interrupted Lovino, and both boys tuned to look at the newcomers, fury on Lovino's face, and a bit of irritation on Antonio's.

"Hello," the Spanish boy greeted his friends quietly.

"'Sup?" Gilbert said, eyeing Lovino and giving Antonio a knowing look.

"Look, Gilbert. I'll be with you in a second, okay?"

"Ohonhonhon, we are interrupting something, non?" Francis piped up, watching Lovino.

"Fuck off."

Gilbert laughed. "Alright Toni, we'll see you in class?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

"Bye Toni! Bye Loviiii~"

"SHUT UP YOU-"

Antonio put a hand on Lovino's shoulder, quieting him down, but earning himself a glare from the Italian.

"I'll see you after school?"

"N-"

"Come to my house." And that was it. Antonio walked away before Lovino could refuse, and the latter leaned up against the wall, furious, but also a little excited... Excited? The fuck? What would he be excited about? He didn't want to spend time with that tomato bastard!

Lovino kicked a pen that was lying on the ground and walked to history, his face red and the embarrassment from the situation eating him inside. He didn't know why he would possibly be excited to see Antonio after school, let alone go to his house. Why had he been so pissed when Gilbert and Francis had interrupted them? The little fuckers. Lovino sat down, still fuming, and ignored the curious stares from the other kids in the room.

Antonio was going to be teaching Lovino math. Lovino was going to be teaching Antonio Spanish. This just seemed so messed up. But Lovino had to admit, just to himself, that he was looking forward to seeing Antonio after school.

…Not because he liked the tomato bastard, dammit!

Maybe just a little bit… Antonio was still annoying as fuck, though! God, he never shut up and was always too happy, and never stopped smiling, dammit! But Lovino loved Antonio's smile. The bastard, making Lovino like him. Not really, but just a little bit. Because Lovino liked girls, right? Fucking Antonio. Lovino didn't like guys like that, unlike his brother.

The Italian buried his face in his hands, and tuned out the rest of the class. He needed to think, needed to find a way to get out of seeing Antonio after school. But he knew he couldn't, because the math teacher would find out, and Antonio would be sad, and dammit, when Antonio was sad, he could guilt you into anything with that face. Stupid Spaniard who couldn't even speak Spanish. What the hell?

The fact that Antonio had to tutor Lovino pissed him off so much that he didn't even notice how obnoxious Alfred was being that day, or when the teacher called on him several times to answer a question.

"MR. VARGAS!" Lovino's head snapped up, and his eyes were clouded in a daze for a second, before looking at the teacher. "Do you have the answer?"

"Uh… What was the question?" The history teacher glared at him, before turning to Ludwig (that fucking potato bastard), who was quietly raising his hand at the front of the room. Lovino drifted into his own thoughts again as the teacher returned to her lecture.

* * *

><p>Because he often went to Arthur's, Bella's, or Matthew's house after school, Lovino didn't have to worry about telling Feliciano that he wouldn't be coming home right away. The dark haired boy cast a glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was following him as he made his way to the tomato bastard's house.<p>

There was no way he would be getting out of it, at least not today, considering that Antonio had cornered him at lunch and reminded him about their session, making sure to look hurt when Lovino tried to refuse. That bastard.

Lovino even bet Antonio had asked Gilbert and Francis to tag Lovino after school to make sure he kept true to his word. He wouldn't but it past the bastard. At the same time, Lovino was pretty sure that Gilbert and Francis suspected something. They weren't as dense as Antonio was.

Oh, it was most definitely going to be a long night.

And Lovino was in for another surprise when he made it to Antonio's house. He couldn't believe it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, please don't kill me for this chapter x_x I don't really like it; it had looked a lot better in my head... And I'm so sorry for the terribly short chapters! Hopefully they'll be getting longer from now on. I'm not really happy with this chapter at all though so if anybody has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated! Also, if anybody wants to follow me on tumblr, my url is silvermoonshine(dot)tumblr(dot)com. you might be able to get a sneak peek of what happens next there(; again please don't kill me for this terrible chapter; it should be getting better from here on out.**


	6. Chapter 6

Antonio walked away from Lovino, emotions churning in his stomach. First of all, he couldn't wait to spend time outside of school with the Italian for the first time all year. They weren't really friends, so they had never hung out before. However, he was also a little bit worried that Lovino wouldn't show up or do something terrible. He had a tendency to do that. Finally, he was pissed off at Gilbert and Francis for interrupting their conversation. And Antonio wasn't one to get angry very easily. It took a lot to make the happy Spanish boy snap. Usually his two best friends were experts at that.

People usually had trouble telling when Antonio was angry, because he almost never wiped the huge smile from his face, and he was never rude to anybody. Except for Gilbert and Francis. And Gilbert and Francis knew him better than that, so when Antonio took his seat next to them in their English class, Francis flashed an irritated I-told-you-not-to-bother-them look, at Gilbert and the albino just snickered.

"Is there a problem, Toni?"

"Obviously, Gilbert. Why in the world did you have to come and bother me and Lovi?" Gilbert put his feet up on his desk and gave Antonio an innocent look.

"To save you from embarrassment, of course!"

"What… I wasn't embarrassing myself!" Antonio looked bewildered. "I was just-"

"Oh, just what, mon ami?" Francis asked as Antonio broke off, propping his chin on his hand.

"Yeah, Toni, from what? 'Cause something was happening, and the awesome me just had to swoop in and save you from that little Italian bastard. You know, his brother is so much nicer." His red eyes glistened as Antonio shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable.

"Just… asking Lovi what he was having for lunch today!" Antonio said with a fake smile.

Gilbert snorted and almost started laughing. "Now that, Toni, is probably the worst lie you have ever told the awesome me."

"I'm sorry, Gilbert and Francis, but what I was talking to Lovi about is none of your business."

Francis's deep blue eyes lit up at this. "But if you are in love, then who will help you but moi?" He smiled and moved his blond hair out of his face so he could see Antonio clearer.

Antonio's head snapped up. "Who ever said I was in love with Lovi?" He fidgeted with the cuff of his sweatshirt.

"Well, Tonio, you kinda just did."

"Oui, I never said in love with Lovino. I just said 'in love.'" Antonio's face turned red and he looked away from his friends.

"He'll never like me," he mumbled, a tinge of sadness in his voice.

"Mon ami, you will never know that unless you tell him," Francis murmured, looking Antonio straight in the eye.

Gilbert snorted again. "If you told that little asshole you liked him, you'd never be able to talk again." Francis glared at him and Antonio looked even more distraught. At long last class began, and the trio had to stop talking. Antonio couldn't concentrate on what was going on, and didn't notice when the teacher called on him several times before giving up.

* * *

><p>There he was. Antonio was leaning up against the wall when he spotted Lovino walking into the cafeteria alone, and quickly approached the younger boy.<p>

"Lovi~"

"Dammit, what do you want, bastard?" Lovino looked nervous, and was glancing around the room to see if anybody was watching them. No one seemed to be paying any attention to him, as the lunchroom was filled with the chatter of happy students and the disgusting smell of many foods mixed together. Antonio moved closer to Lovino so that he could lower his voice without being too quiet.

"I just wanted to make sure we're still on for tonight~"

"Che cazzo? P-pervert! I'm going over to your house to study, and that's it, dammit! Got that?" Lovino's face was pink, and Antonio chuckled.

"Of course, Lovi~ And you're so cute when you speak in Italian!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT, DAMMIT. And I'm not cute!"

"YO LOVEBIRDS! Take your flirting somewhere else! We don't want to see that!" Gilbert crowed from half way across the room.

"Wh-what are you..?" Lovino spluttered, his face turning ten shades darker and he scrambled to push Antonio away. Neither of them had realized how close they had gotten while talking.

"But Gilbert, you wouldn't see it if you weren't watching~!" Antonio said, also looking a bit flustered. Lovino headbutted him in the stomach. "Ow, Lovi! That hurt!"

"We're not flirting, bastard!" The younger of the two sounded like he was about to kill Gilbert, but his face was so red that Antonio couldn't help but smile a little. Good thing Lovino didn't see him. But Gilbert flashed a knowing grin at Antonio, who looked away. Lovino was scowling, and stormed off before Gilbert could crack any more jokes.

"Don't forget, Lovi~!" Antonio called after him.

"Forget what, Toni?" Gilbert asked as he made his way to stand next to his friend. Again, Francis was nowhere to be seen. He was probably locked in some classroom with another girl. Gilbert had a glint in his red eyes, and Antonio looked away again.

"Nothing, Gil." And with that, the two walked over to their usual lunch table, which was empty since Francis wasn't there. Not unusual.

* * *

><p>Knowing how much Lovino loved tomatoes, Antonio wanted to make sure that their first tutoring session went as smoothly as possible. So he did something he was sure Lovino would love. After hurrying home from school, he set up their study material in his tomato garden, and set a basket full of freshly harvested, ripe tomatoes next to the textbooks for Lovino to bring home.<p>

When Lovino arrived, Antonio had been greeted with a stream of curses, and he led the boy back into the garden, where he turned around to see the boy's face. For a moment, Lovino just stood there, staring at the tomatoes open-mouthed with a look of longing in his caramel colored eyes. _His eyes are beautiful_, Antonio thought to himself. Then he regained his normal composure and glared at Antonio, with a half-hearted mumbled "bastard," to make it seem normal. However, Antonio just smiled because he knew that deep down Lovino appreciated the gift. And so their first tutoring session began.

* * *

><p>"And you use the Pythagorean Theorem to figure out what 'x'<p>

is on the triangle," Antonio told Lovino, pointing at the problem on the page.

"Uhm…" Lovino muttered, looking confused. "Could you… Show me how to do that again…?"

"Of course!" And so Antonio continued to help Lovino with his algebra homework until he saw the smaller boy shiver. The sky was getting darker and the temperature was dropping. It was late October and both of the boys were dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, so they were both a bit cold due to the cool night.

"Are you cold, Lovi?"

"N-no… And I told you not to call me Lovi!" he tried to sound angry, but he shivered again.

"Well it's getting late now! Do you understand this part?"

"Y-yeah… thanks…" Lovino turned red again, and Antonio's face lit up.

"Oh Lovi, you look just like a tomato!" And to prove his point to himself, the Spaniard picked a tomato out of the basket and held it up to the younger boy's face, making him blush even more. "See? Just like a tomato!"

"No, bastardo, I can't see my own face. Idiot."

"Ahahaha! So cute, Lovi! Are you going to the Haunted Hay Ride this weekend~?"

Oh. Lovino hadn't heard about the Haunted Hay Ride. But since Halloween was on Sunday, and it was Monday, he should have known something festive was coming up. Then again, he hadn't really celebrated Halloween in Italy.

"The student council is putting together the ride again this year! Would you like to come with me?" Shit. He hadn't meant to make it sound like a date. "F-Francis and Gilbert are going too, and you can bring Feliciano, too…" he added quickly.

"I'd rather not spend time with your creepy friends. And Feliciano will probably go with his stupid potato friend. So no."

"Awww, but Lovi, it'll be so much fun!" Antonio pouted. Why did he have to look like a kicked puppy?

"…Fine. But only if Bella comes, too." Lovino finally gave in. He couldn't stand it when Antonio pouted. It was just so adorable… What the fuck? Antonio was certainly not adorable.

Once again, Antonio's face lit up. "Bella! Of course she can come!" Antonio and Bella were good friends, and so were Bella and Lovino.

"Okay, tomato bastard. But you better not try anything with her." Lovino was mumbling again, and not looking Antonio in the eye. Antonio blinked. Did he mean…? Oh.

"Ahahaha, of course not~ Bella and I have been friends for a long time!"

"Right… well then, are you coming to my house tomorrow…?" Lovino asked, looking angry again.

"Why would I be going to your house tomorrow, Lovi? Unless of course you wanted to hang out with me!" He brightened up at this.

"Idiot, I'm teaching you Spanish. Something you should already know…"

"Oh… Oh! Well I guess I can go to your house~! But I don't know where Lovi lives!"

"Then I'll go with you after school tomorrow. We do have our last class together… Unfortunately." _Fortunately,_ they both thought. "Just as long as Francis and Gilbert don't follow us. And I'll get Feli to go hang out with Kiku or something. So he stays away from us and that potato bastard."

"But Lovi, I like Feli!" Antonio protested.

"No. We agreed that no one would know about this, and that includes Feliciano. I don't want him getting the wrong-" Lovino stopped before he could put any ideas into Antonio's mind, either.

"Eh? Well, okay then… I can't wait, Lovi!"

"Stop fucking calling me Lovi! My name is _Lovino_. And don't get too excited."

"Okay, Lovi!" Lovino smacked himself in the face. Did this idiot get _anything_ through that thick head of his?

"Yeah, well, I'll see you tomorrow again," Lovino said, picking up his backpack.

"Si! Don't forget your tomatoes~!" Antonio pushed the basket full of fresh tomatoes into Lovino's hands, and for a second, their eyes met. Emerald green and amber. And quickly, the younger of the two looked away, a small blush forming on his face.

"Yeah, thanks, bastard." And with that he took the basket Antonio had given him and left the garden with the tomatoes and Antonio behind. As he walked away, he cast a backwards glance over his shoulder to see Antonio standing where he had left him, watching him leave. Lovino quickened his pace and Antonio smiled, but the former didn't see it.

Antonio was excited, because he would be spending tomorrow afternoon with Lovino, and the Italian had even agreed to go to the Haunted Hay Ride with him and his friends on Saturday. He felt his heart flutter inside his chest as he watched the younger boy go, and when he was gone Antonio walked (more like skipped) back inside his own house and began making his dinner while humming happily.

* * *

><p>Though Lovino was a more reluctant to admit it than Antonio, they were both excited to be hanging out over the weekend. But nobody needed to know that. Just as long as Antonio didn't try anything or make him dress up, he would be looking forward to it. Lovino even smiled a little bit to himself as he picked a tomato out of the basket. He wasn't going to lie; they looked delicious.<p>

As Lovino made dinner for himself that night (Feliciano had no doubt eaten all the pasta), he couldn't help but realize that he had really enjoyed spending the afternoon with Antonio, and he was almost excited for tomorrow. …But not because he liked him. He just wanted more tomatoes.

And that was what he would tell the tomato bastard if he asked.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you for all the reviews last chapter! I am taking some of the advice I got and adding a little Halloween scene to this story. Aaand this is the longest chapter so far, with 2k+ words! I like this chapter a lot more than last chapter, and it might even be my favorite so far. Sorry if Antonio is a little bit ooc in the beginning. This is my first time writing any of them so they probably aren't that well written.  
>ALSO. My editor is out of town this weekend so this chapter didn't get edited by someone else... I went over it the best I could so sorry if there are any errors. I hope you guys like reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it! <strong>


	7. Chapter 7

The next day passed without anything truly interesting happening. Lovino was able to understand his math homework for once, which made Antonio smile. The latter was still struggling with Spanish that day, but that was to be expected since their first Spanish tutoring session was going to be that afternoon.

Twiddling his thumbs, Antonio leaned backwards in his chair and ignored what his Spanish teacher was saying- not a good decision on his part since he wasn't getting the best grade possible in that class. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't pay attention; he was looking forward to being with Lovino again. Even though the sophomore was sitting right next to him. _But still_. He was excited.

Out of the corner of his eye Antonio noticed Lovino glaring at him, but he didn't stop fidgeting. How could he? He was going to be spending the afternoon at Lovi's house! _Just so he can help me out_, Antonio thought.

When the bell rang at long last, Antonio all but launched out of his chair, while Lovino took his time packing his stuff up. Antonio looked like he was trying his hardest not to dance in place or dart out the room, but Lovino acted like he didn't notice. Instead, the younger one walked out of the room with only a _follow me_ glance at Antonio, who was pretty much on his tail.

After making sure no one was watching them, Lovino and Antonio head out of the school towards the former's house.

"Loviiii, I can't wait to see your house!" Antonio almost squealed.

"Unless you calm down, I'm leaving you right here and not going any further," Lovino looked angry, but his relaxed shoulders would tell somebody who knew him very well that he was actually fine walking side by side with Antonio. Not that he was excited, because the only things Lovino liked were pasta, tomatoes, and pizza. Antonio was none of those. So, no, the Italian didn't like being with him, dammit!

As the duo arrived at Lovino's house, Antonio was blabbering away, and Lovino was trying not to yell at him. It was going to be a long night.

Antonio followed Lovino inside as they walked into the kitchen, but the Spaniard was confused when Lovino took out a pot and filled it up with water before placing it on top of the stove he had just turned on.

"Eh? Lovi? Aren't we going to work on Spanish?"

Lovino pulled a bowl out of a cupboard before beginning to make pasta sauce with the tomatoes Antonio had given him the day before.

"Be patient, bastard. I'm hungry, so I'm making food."

"Ooh! Are those the tomatoes I gave you yesterday?" Antonio was suddenly right behind Lovino, looking over his shoulder as he prepared the meal. The Italian froze, and was grateful that Antonio couldn't see his face.

"Y-yes…" he stammered, his back rigid.

"Lovi liked them!" Antonio cheered.

"It wasn't like I was going to put them to waste, bastardo," he said, pouring pasta into the water and stirring the noodles. "And," he added, turning around, "Oh…" He was right up against Antonio, who took a second to realize their position. The taller boy stepped away quickly, while Lovino's face turned bright red. Antonio coughed, breaking the awkward silence that had come about.

"So what were you saying before~?" Antonio asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lovino drained the water from the pot and set the pasta into two bowls before answering. "Uh, we were out of tomatoes so I used these instead of buying fresh ones…" he put sauce on the steaming pasta and handed a bowl to Antonio. "As soon as you're done we can start…"

"Start what?" Antonio's fork missed his mouth as he looked at the younger boy who still seemed a bit flustered.

"Spanish, idiot."

"Right! Ahahaha~ This pasta is delicious, Lovi!" Just as his face had been returning to its normal color, it flushed again.

"Yeah, I know. Hurry up, bastard."

* * *

><p>"The past tense of "ir" in the nosotros form is <em>fuimos<em>, not _imos_. It's an irregular verb," pointing to the textbook in front of them, Lovino corrected Antonio's mistake.

"Ahaha, silly irregular verbs!" Antonio erased what he had written on the page and rewrote it. "Thank you, Lovi! I probably would have failed the test tomorrow if you hadn't helped me!" he beamed at the younger boy, who just looked away.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he muttered, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. "You better pass this test tomorrow, bastard. I didn't spend my afternoon helping you for my time to be wasted."

"Of course! I just had some trouble with conjugation before, but now I have these charts to help me!"

"If you had been paying attention in the first place you would have gotten the charts from the teacher," Lovino said, his voice not completely full of anger.

"Whoops! Must have been spacing out again!" he laughed, and Lovino scowled. "Do you want to come over tomorrow for another math session?"

"Uh, sure, we do have another math quiz on Thursday…"

* * *

><p>The rest of the week had gone by pretty quickly. Almost too quickly for Lovino. He and Antonio had established a schedule for study sessions: math at Antonio's house on Mondays and Wednesdays; Spanish at Lovino's house on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Antonio went out with his no-good friends on Fridays, and even though Lovino had been invited, he had quickly refused. After all, he would be spending Saturday evening with them. <em>Wait a second<em>, Lovino thought, snapping out of his daze. It was Saturday. Oh, fuck. A day with Antonio and his friends. At least Bella had agreed to come along.

Lovino was planning to pick Bella up at her house and then meeting Antonio and his friends at the local farm, where the hay ride was held. Antonio had agreed to not dress up for the occasion, so Lovino settled on wearing a pair of jeans and a button-up shirt. Making sure he had his wallet in his pocket, he walked to Bella's house, which was just a couple of blocks down.

As he stood on her front steps, he heard the soft chime of the doorbell going off inside, and the big wooden doors were soon opened by Bella, who greeted Lovino with a big smile.

"Hi, Lovino!" she said cheerfully. Bella was dressed in jeans and a nice shirt, with her short blond hair held back by a headband.

"Hello, Bella," Lovino said, returning the smile that he saved for all the ladies. Suddenly, another figure appeared beside Bella. It was her older brother, Lars. Lovino hadn't expected to see him, but greeted the older boy with a cold hello.

"I'm coming with you," Lars announced.

"Uhm… Okay, I guess," Lovino said, confused, and cast a glance at Bella, who rolled her eyes.

"He wouldn't let me go alone," she whispered. Lovino nodded and turned to walk down the steps with Bella at his side, and Lars following them from a distance.

"So," Bella said awkwardly, breaking the silence, "Is your brother going?"

"I think he's meeting up with that potato bastard. We're meeting Antonio, Francis, and Gilbert."

Bella looked slightly surprised. "You agreed to go with them? I thought you didn't like that trio."

"Er, I don't, really. Antonio asked me to go along, and he guilted me into it."

"Antonio?" Lovino looked away. "You like him." It wasn't a question. His face turned red and he couldn't look at Bella.

"N-no. I don't like that tomato bastard. He's annoying and stupid."

"But you like him," Bella said softly, putting her arm on his shoulder. Lars coughed loudly from behind them, making Bella pull her arm away.

"I don't…" he hadn't even realized that they had made it to the farm until Antonio himself ran up to greet them.

"Lovi! Bella!" he exclaimed, pulling them both into a tight embrace. When Lovino's brain registered what was going on, he shoved Antonio away from him.

"B-bastard," he managed to spit out, looking as red as, well, a tomato. Bella just smirked at him. Antonio seemed to notice that someone else had come with them at that moment.

"Lars," he said coldly, with just a nod of his head.

"Antonio."

And then Gilbert and Francis ran up. "Yo, Toni, Lovino, and Bella!" Gilbert said, winking at Bella. "Sup Lars," he added.

"Bonjour, mon amis," Francis said.

"Yeah, Toni, hate to leave you alone with the little asshole and his girlfriend, but we found Mattie! So I'm gonna go talk to him with Francis! See ya around!" And before anybody could say anything, Gilbert whisked off, dragging Francis behind him.

Antonio blinked, and said, "Ahaha, I guess it's just us… four," flashing a glare at Lars.

The older boy shrugged. "Hey, Bella, I want to go get some food. And since I'm not letting you out of my sight, you're coming with me." He started to walk away, and Bella turned and winked at Lovino.

"I'll see you two soon!" and she walked off after her brother.

Okay, that was cool too. Now Lovino was stuck with Antonio. Alone. Ah, shit. Had they all done that on purpose? Probably.  
>"It's just you and me~!" Antonio said cheerfully after Bella had gone. "I guess the others won't be joining us for the hay ride. But I already bought our tickets, so we're still going!" He grabbed Lovino's hand, and the Italian immediately began to sputter.<p>

"T-tomato bastard, let go of me! I-I'm not going on that hay ride with you!" The Spaniard ignored him and continued to pull the blushing Italian along, ignoring all his protests.

"It'll be fun, Lovi!" was all he said while dragging the struggling Lovino toward the line. Antonio's eyes flickered with anticipation and excitement of the night to come.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: My apologies for the late update! I think I'll let you all know now that updates are going to be slow this next week, maybe even the next two weeks. My dad is going to Canada again next week, so I won't have a computer to use, so I'll TRY to have the next chapter up by Sunday. Hopefully. If not, don't expect an update till Friday or Saturday. Ughh. I'm so sorry about that.**

**Next: Sorry about the awkward ending of this chapter. I'm going to have the hay ride in chapter 8, so that this chapter wasn't super long. I hope it's not dragging D: As for Bella and Lars, they're probably super ooc. Whoops. **

**One thing I forgot to mention last chapter: The POV is changing a little bit to more of a third person omnicient sort of thing, but I think it's kinda confusing at times. I'm going to try to change that next chapter, but knowing me it's not going to go very well. Bleh. **

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I know it's not the best and I really hope I can get the next chapter up by Sunday.**

**Thank you to everybody who has subscribed, favorited, and reviewed this story! check out www(dot)silvermoonshine(dot)tumblr(dot)com for sneak peeks(:**


	8. Chapter 8

In his haste to get to the line for the Haunted Hay Ride, Antonio almost crashed into nearly twenty different people. By the time they were in the line, Lovino was swearing profusely while Antonio bounced with excitement. The line wasn't even long, and it would only take a few minutes for them to be seated on the ride. Antonio chattered away and Lovino ignored him, still fuming.

_Dammit, why did Bella have to go off with Lars? And didn't Antonio say he bought tickets? Why wasn't everybody else here, too?_ Lovino wondered as Antonio babbled away.

"Next!" called the person who was seating people on the ride. As Lovino approached him, he thought he recognized the excited looking boy. He was that little Finnish kid who always hung out with the intimidating Swedish senior. His name was Tino or something.

"Oh, hi Antonio! Hi Lovino!" the latter rolled his eyes as Antonio and Tino struck up a conversation, before he elbowed Antonio in the side.

"Oh, haha, I guess we should get on!" the Spanish boy laughed and handed the tickets to a smiling Tino.

"Enjoy the ride!" He called after them, calling the next people forward.

Oh, this was going to be one of the worst things Lovino had ever been forced to do in his life. The cart was pulled by two horses, and as it rounded the corner into the maze, the sky seemed to get much darker than it had been outside the maze. There wasn't much room inside the cart, and Lovino was sitting rather close to Antonio.

For once, everything was silent. Antonio wasn't talking, and all that could be heard was the steady _clip-clop_ _clip-clop_ of the horses' hooves on the ground. When all of the sudden-

"AAAAAAH!" Lovino shrieked and jumped onto Antonio's lap as something popped out from the corn stalks to scare whoever came through. Antonio started laughing as he noticed the younger boy, and Lovino tried to scramble off, but the former put his arms around Lovino, trapping him.

"Lovi, are you scared?" He whispered in his ear.

"F-fuck off, bastard!" Lovino shivered. Antonio was breathing down his neck, and he squirmed, trying to get off. "Let me go!"

"But Lovi, if you're scared then-"  
>"I said let me go!" And he pushed Antonio's arms away and tried to scoot as far away as the older boy as possible, who was laughing. Fucking laughing at him. The bastard. Lovino's face turned bright red, and he was thankful for the darkness surrounding them.<p>

* * *

><p>During the course of the whole hayride, many things had popped out and scared Lovino, and unfortunately he had found himself in Antonio's lap again. This time, Antonio had convinced the Italian to stay there, who had put up a fight before realizing that he wasn't going to escape. Even though he would rather die than admit it, he felt more comfortable with Antonio's warm arms wrapped around him. He smiled to himself, grateful that the Spaniard couldn't see his face. But as soon as the cart came to a halt, Lovino all but jumped on to the ground before anybody could spot him sitting on Antonio. The latter was slower to emerge, having taken his sweet time as usual.<p>

"Well that was fun, wasn't it, Lovi?" Antonio asked with that stupid grin on his face.

"Yeah, whatever, bastard," Lovino muttered, brushing hay off his pants. "Let's go find the others." He walked off briskly, and Antonio followed him.

Before long, they had found Bella and (unfortunately) Lars, and were now looking for Gilbert and Francis.

"Oh! Look! There they are!" Bella said, pointing a finger towards a trio leaning up against one of the barns. The group of four made their way to where Bella had pointed, and found Francis, a smirk on his face, and Gilbert, who had his arm slung around Matthew, a quiet Canadian boy, who was blushing more than Lovino did around Antonio.

Matthew and Lovino were friends, and Lovino suddenly felt a pang of pity for him. Gilbert was annoying, and it definitely must suck to have to hang out with him.

"Toni!" Gilbert called when he saw his friend approaching, waving his free hand. Matthew, upon seeing even more people, turned, if possible, even redder. Lovino had to fight back a smile, and gave him an I'm-so-sorry look before redirecting his attention to a beaming Gilbert.

"Guess what!" The albino exclaimed, telling them before anybody even had a chance to say anything. "I asked Mattie out and he said yes!" He pulled the blushing boy closer to him, and Antonio's smile grew even wider.

"Oh, Gilbert, congratulations!" Antonio said, his voice turning into a squeal. Bella laughed and added her own congratulations, while Lovino and Lars just stood there awkwardly.

"So, who wants to go get some ice cream?" Gilbert asked.

"I do!"  
>"Yes, let's go!"<p>

"TONI'S PAYING!"

"Gilbert!"

Once again, only Lovino and Lars remained silent. Knowing that they were going to be dragged along anyways, they opted to not say anything.

* * *

><p>In no time at all, the seven high schoolers found themselves stuffed into a booth at the local ice cream parlor, some happy to be there, some not so thrilled. Lovino was crammed between Bella and Antonio, and he looked like he would kill anybody who so much as looked at him. He seemed to be glaring at the wall, and it wasn't until Bella poked him that he snapped out of his daze.<p>

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Have you decided what you want?" she asked him, ignoring his hostility.

"Oh, uh, I'll just have one scoop of vanilla ice cream," he told the boy who was waiting to take their orders. The boy scribbled down Lovino's order and then looked at Antonio, who proceeded to place his order. Across from him was Gilbert, who was sitting in between Francis and a blushing Matthew. The latter remained very quiet, if not quieter than usual.

The group picked up mindless babble while they waited for their order, and Lovino tuned them out again. Before long, the waiter was back with everybody's order, and he handed them out quickly. Everybody else began to devour their ice cream while Lovino ate his slowly, savoring it. Of course, it wasn't as good as Italian desserts, but it would do.

"Hey Mattie, you've got a little ice cream on your face," Gilbert said slyly, before licking off a drop of ice cream that was on the corner of Matthew's mouth. The Canadian boy turned a furious shade of red as he realized what had just happened.

"G-Gilbert!" he sputtered, as everybody else snickered.

"Do we really need to see that?" Lars asked, glaring at them. "Not all of us are gay as rainbows."

"Lars, are you jealous?" Gilbert snickered and pulled Matthew closer to him, who, in turn, looked straight at the wall, the blush on his face deepening. "Last time I checked, no one wanted to go out with you."

"At least I'm not-"

"Oh, will you two stop it?" Bella interrupted, punching her brother's arm. Gilbert snickered again and Lars rolled his eyes.

"But honestly, Gil," Francis said, "We don't want to see that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

* * *

><p>After Antonio paid (much to the demand of Gilbert), he had insisted on walking Lovino home, who didn't seem all too thrilled. On the outside, at least.<p>

"I have to walk Bella home!" he had protested, turning red at Antonio's remark.

"Ah, yes, I would be more than happy to walk Bella home with you!" he had happily complied, and Bella had quickly agreed. Much to the displeasure of Lovino and Lars.

Lovino finally gave in, and Gilbert and Francis exchanged a look with each other, which nobody else caught but Bella, who in turn nodded to them. Gilbert had an evil smile on his face after that, and left with Mattie and Francis, and tossing a "'Night little lovebirds!" over his shoulder before walking out. Lovino turned red at this, and Antonio confused, while Bella giggled and Lars kept an annoyed look on his face.

On the way to Bella's house, Antonio and Bella did most of the talking, while Lovino and Lars continued to walk in silence. As they finally made it to Bella's house, Antonio and Lovino said their goodbyes, and Bella winked at Lovino, before giving him the _call me _sign. Lovino rolled his eyes and nodded, and watched his friend to make sure she got inside safely.

Lovino turned around quickly, hoping Antonio would leave, but his wish wasn't granted as the older boy almost skipped to his side.

"Lovi, did you have fun tonight?" he asked.

"Sure, tomato bastard."

"You seemed to really enjoy the hayride~" Lovino froze.

"If you tell anybody, I swear to God, I will come to your house in the middle of the night and eat every last one of your tomatoes," Lovino hissed.

"Ahaha, of course I won't tell anybody," Antonio said hesitantly, his smile fading for a moment. But then it was back up.

"You better not."

After that threat, the walk back to the Vargas house was strangely quiet. When they finally made it to Lovino's house, he realized that the door was locked and he had forgotten his keys. Swearing, he rang the doorbell, and waited.

Almost a minute later Feliciano opened the door, Ludwig right behind him.

"Fratello!" he squealed, wrapping his arms around his brother's neck. "And Antonio! What are you doing here?"

"Ah, I just wanted to walk Lovi home to make sure he was okay," Antonio said, smiling at the younger Italian brother. Lovino shot him a glare, which he didn't see.

"Oh, well come on in! I was just making pasta for Ludwig and I!"

"I'd be delighted," Antonio said, and everybody ignored the waves of irritation that seemed to be radiating off Lovino's body.

Upon entering the house, Feliciano had insisted that Lovino take Antonio on a tour of their house. Even though he had been in the Vargas household before, Antonio had only ever been in the kitchen and the living room. Lovino had flat out refused, but eventually gave in when both his brother and Antonio gave him their irresistible puppy-dog faces. Scowling, he took Antonio upstairs and showed him around.

"And this is my room," Lovino finished, while Antonio looked positively ecstatic.

"I love it!" he said. "Ah- Lovi, do you play football, too?" There were football posters all over the tomato red walls, and he had numerous trophies scattered on the bookshelves.

"I, uh, yeah, I used to play, back in Italy…" Lovino said nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I haven't really played much since we moved here."

"Really? I love football! If you want, we could play sometime!" Antonio had a genuine smile on his face, which made Lovino blush a bit.

"Yeah, well, maybe," he muttered, turning around to head back downstairs. "The pasta is probably almost done. Let's go back to the kitchen." When Lovino and Antonio made their way into the kitchen, Lovino saw Ludwig standing way too close to his brother for his liking.

"Hey! Potato bastard! Get away from my brother!" he shouted, causing the two to jump apart.

"Ah, hahaha, fratello, the pasta is ready!" Feliciano said hesitantly, setting out four plates and filling them with pasta. Lovino glared at his brother again as he took his plate from the counter and sat down at the table to begin eating. He scowled and stabbed his pasta with his fork as Antonio sat beside him, and Feliciano on the other side. Ludwig was more hesitant to sit down, but gained two comforting smiles from Feliciano and Antonio.

Lovino was the first to finish his meal, and everybody else was finished soon after. Once Ludwig and Antonio had helped the Italians clean the kitchen, they left, saying 'thank you' and 'see you on Monday,' before Lovino slammed the door on them. He stomped off to his room before Feliciano could say anything and threw himself down on his bed, before realizing that he had forgotten to call Bella. Sighing, he turned over again and picked up his cell phone, dialing her number.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey Bella, it's me," Lovino said, trying not to sound so agitated. Bella was one of his best friends, and one of the only people he could actually stand to be around.

_"Oh hi!"_ he heard from the other line. _"So how did things go with Antonio?"_

"Well, once we got to my house, Feli decided to invite him inside for pasta, and Ludwig was there…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Here's chapter 8! Wow, I can't believe I've actually written this much so far! This is the longest story I've ever written... And I'm so glad people like it! So far, this is the longest chapter and I hope the next chapters will be this long or longer. **

**We finally have some PruCan and GerIta (who caught that? ;D) going on! **

**In case you didn't know, Bella= Belgium**

**Lars= Netherlands**

**Chapter 9 isn't going to be up till later next week, and it may not even be up till next Sunday. I won't have access to a computer until Thursday or Friday but I'm going to try to write some of chapter 9 today so it can be up as soon as possible.**

**Thank you to everybody who has stuck with this story! I can't believe I've made it this far and I really, really appreciate all the attention it's getting!**

**Long A/N is long...**


	9. Chapter 9

Lovino was so glad that he had another day to think before going back to school. When he woke up in the morning, his head hurt, and all he could think about was the previous night. Antonio. It was always Antonio. What Bella had said to him on the phone didn't help, either.

…

Okay, maybe it did. But it didn't. She made him realize that, yes, after all, he did actually like Antonio, but no, he wouldn't ever admit it to anyone else.

He rubbed his eyes and sat up. Damn, he was _so_ glad it was Sunday. Looking at the clock, he realized it was 10:30 and the house was very quiet.

Dammit, Feliciano and his mother had gone to church again. _Without him. _Lovino groaned and decided to go back to sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Monday<em>. Lovino really hated Mondays. They meant going back to school, waking up early, no siestas… He had ditched Feliciano on the way to school and was quietly walking alone. When he walked into the building, it was still pretty empty, and he went to his locker before collecting his materials for class.

Still half asleep, Lovino was grateful that the halls were still fairly quiet, and there were no obnoxious Germans (or as Gilbert would say, "Prussians") running through the hall. Yet. Slamming his locker shut, he made his way to the math room and took a seat. There were a couple other people in the room, but the talking was kept to a quiet buzz.

That was, until a certain Spaniard walked in.

"Hi, Lovi!" Antonio said, taking his seat behind the sleepy Italian. "How are you? How was your weekend? Well, how was your Sunday, considering I already know how your Sa-"

Lovino smacked Antonio in the face with his notebook. "Shut up, bastard!" he hissed. "Dammit, why do you have to be so loud?"

Antonio blinked, then realized that everybody in the classroom was staring at them, some with amused expressions, some confused, and a couple snickering.

"But Lovi, I-"

"Stop calling me Lovi, dammit!" Lovino turned red again, much to the delight of a certain junior.

"Ah, my apologies, but it just takes so much more time to say Lovino!" Antonio laughed, making the younger boy turn even redder. Damn, he liked Antonio's laugh. W-wait what?

"I-it's only one more syllable!" Lovino spluttered. "How stupid are you?"

Antonio looked like he was about to answer, but at that moment the bell rang and the teacher walked in, calling attention to the class. Lovino turned around and inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day seemed to go by without any trouble. Arthur and Lovino worked together on an English assignment, and had made plans to hang out that weekend. Everything seemed to be going fine, until science, that is…<p>

* * *

><p>"Bonjour, Lovino," Francis said as the Italian took his seat in science. The world must have hated him if he had to sit next to Francis in science, and Antonio in Spanish.<p>

"What do you want, bastard?" Lovino grumbled. His day was officially ruined.

"To talk to you about Antonio~" Lovino froze. Francis had just gotten straight to the point, without saying anything beforehand.

"What about him?" Lovino asked slowly, not looking the Frenchman in the eye. Instead, he focused on his books.

"Don't pretend you don't know, Lovino," Francis winked.

"Pretend I don't know _what?"_ He was getting impatient. Stupid bastard, messing with him and taking his time. They had a test that he hadn't studied for, and Lovino had been hoping to use this time to go over his notes.

"Ah, I want to talk about your relationship!" Okay. What?

"O-our relationship? Che cazzo? What the hell are you talking about? Antonio and I aren't in any sort of relationship, snail-sucker," Lovino snarled. Francis had to hide a snicker behind one hand. "I don't know what you're talking about!" At this, Francis began to chuckle, and Lovino had to resist the urge to slap him. The blond simply began to twirl a lock of his long hair, ignoring the glares from the Italian next to him.

"Ohonhonhon, you simply assume that I meant something other than what I actually said. A relationship can be friendship, too. Ah, you were right, though. But you see, you don't need to hide it. I already know." His eyes glinted.

Lovino sighed. "Bastard, I don't know what you're talking about. So either shut the fuck up and let me be, or tell me what the hell you're going on about here."

"You know very well what I'm talking about~"

"If I knew what you were talking about, why they _flying fuck_ would I be asking you?" he sighed and put his head in his hands.

"There's no need to hide it. You're in love with Antonio." Again, straight to the point. Lovino froze once more.

"I-I don't know… W-what the fuck? W-why would you think I'm in love with that tomato bastard? Who even said I liked guys? Are you-" his voice started to rise and he began to speak faster.  
>"Lovino, Lovino, first things first. Denial. Always denial. More importantly, I can always tell these things. I am French, <em>non<em>? It is not hard to tell that you are in love with _mon ami_ Antonio. He likes guys, too." Another wink. He smiled and went on. "There is no point in denying it. You must confess your love. Oh, and stop being such a little bitch." And that was it.

Well fuck. So that made two people who knew that Lovino was in love- no, two people who knew Lovino liked Antonio. A little bit. But how did that bastard find out? I-it wasn't that obvious, was it? And if Francis knew, did that mean that Gilbert knew? More importantly, did it mean _Antonio_ knew?  
>Shitshitshit. There was no way Antonio could know. It's not like he liked Lovino anyways! Lovino groaned quietly, earning himself an amused smirk from Francis.<p>

All he knew was that Spanish was going to be a dreadful affair, and they had a tutoring session that night. Great, just great. It seemed like the whole world was out to get Lovino.

* * *

><p>The moment Lovino walked into his house, he went up to his room and collapsed on the bed.<p>

Surviving science had been enough to drain all his energy, with Francis sending him several looks throughout the whole class and whatnot.

Antonio had been his usual oblivious self during Spanish, so Lovino found it safe to assume that he didn't know anything about Lovino l-liking him.

And then there was their tutoring session…

Lovino had walked home with Antonio after school, and nothing different seemed to happen. However, Lovino had wanted to get home as soon as possible, and even oblivious Antonio seemed to realize that the younger boy was anxious about it.

"What's wrong, Lovino?"

He had stopped writing when Antonio had asked him this. "N-nothing," he said, looking away.

"Well, if you say so…"

That was it. He groaned into his pillow and shut his eyes, trying to clear his head. Lovino could feel a huge headache coming on, and he hadn't eaten. Strangely, he wasn't even hungry. Plus, Lovino knew that if he went downstairs to get something eat, Feliciano would pounce on him to find out where he had been.

This day felt just like a day that had happened at the beginning of the year.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Lovino realized that he still had homework to do, and he was actually getting a bit hungry. Cursing, he got up and made his way downstairs quietly, trying not to make too much noise so that his brother wouldn't hear him.

Unfortunately, just as Lovino opened the refrigerator, Feliciano bounced into the room.

"Lovino!" he cried, giving his brother a huge hug. "Where have you been? You smell like tomatoes! I made some pizza and left you some right here!" Feliciano pointed to a plate on the shelf and Lovino took it out.

"Thanks," he muttered, sticking it in the microwave for thirty seconds.

"So where have you been, fratello?" Lovino bit his lip as he tried to come up with a lie.

"Uhh, I just took a walk into town for a little bit…"

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Well at least he hadn't picked up on the lie.

"Mhmmm."

"Well, I'm going to go finish my homework! Ludwig helped me today~ He's coming over after school tomorrow!" Lovino froze, his hand squeezing on the microwave door.

"H-he's what? He's coming over?"

"Yep!" Feliciano smiled cheerfully.

"Merda…" This couldn't be happening. Antonio was supposed to come over.

"What's wrong, brother?" Feliciano tilted his head a little, surprised by his brother's reaction. At least he wasn't swearing at him.

"N-nothing! I just won't be home right away tomorrow!" Lovino took his pizza out of the microwave and all but sprinted up the stairs, slamming the bedroom door behind him.

Well, what was he going to do? Antonio couldn't come over anymore, so he would have to find somewhere else to meet up with him. Why did that stupid potato bastard have to ruin everything for him?

Okay, he didn't really, but Lovino didn't like him and wanted someone to blame everything on. Besides, there was obviously something going on between that bastard and his little brother. And there was no way Lovino would let that happen.

Checking the clock, Lovino sighed and pulled out his English homework. It was almost eight o'clock and he had a lot of work to do. It was going to be such a long night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: -hides- I know, I know, I was supposed to update yesterday. Please don't kill me D: My editor wasn't able to get to a computer and this chapter really needed help. SORRY FOR ANY PROBLEMS. FF was being messed up so there might be problems with this chapter... Aaaaand this chapter is pretty short and really sucks. I know. It was kinda a filler, and I had writer's block... Soooo yeah.**

**Updates: These next few weeks are going to be pretty busy for me. I'm going to TRY to get at least two chapters up before August 8th, because I'm leaving for Panama that week. Yay! And then I have my last week of summer, as well as band camp, sooo... Yeah. Gahhh I am so sorry. **

**There's stuff I'm forgetting to put here but I really can't think of what it is... But thank you to all my readers! I love you all so much and I'm sorry to disappoint with this chapter x-x' Maybe things will start to heat up soon... ;D**


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey jackass, you can't come over after school," Lovino said as he and Antonio took their seats in math. Antonio's face was a mixture of surprise and disappointment, but he quickly put on a fake smile.

"Ahh, that's fine-"

"But if you still need to study we can go somewhere else," Lovino interjected. This time, Antonio's face was definitely a face of surprise.

"What… what do you mean, Lovi?" he asked.

"I _mean_, you can't come over. That fucking potato bastard is coming over after school and if I remember correctly, which I sure as hell do, then no one else is supposed to find out about this. So… we can go somewhere else if you want." He added the last part quickly, and Antonio blinked, wondering if he had actually heard him right.

"Of course I would like to!" Antonio said, a real smile not on his face that made Lovino look away. "I mean, uh, yes, that would be fine, because I really need to study for Spanish, after all, ahaha…" the older boy squirmed in his seat a bit, realizing what he had said, and rubbed the back of his neck. "So… where do you want to meet up?"

Lovino finally looked back at Antonio, and realized that he had no idea. "Well, uh, I don't know… It doesn't matter…"

"How about the Panera Bread in town?" Antonio suggested. "I love to go their on the weekends~"

"Whatever, as long as we actually get _work _done I don't want to waste my afternoon sitting in some café instead of working." The Italian grumbled, secretly pleased with the idea. Maybe sitting in a nice, cozy café with the Spaniard wouldn't be so bad, after all...

"Yes, we will get work done, I promise!" Antonio agreed with a (very enthusiastic) nod.

"But I need to run home after school first, so I'll just meet you there," Lovino mumbled, the scowl returning to his face.

"Okay, Lovi! I'll be waiting!" Lovino blushed and pretended he hadn't heard that last part, even though Antonio hadn't exactly been _quiet_.

* * *

><p>So what was it Lovino had to go home after school for? Directions to Panera Bread. Of course, he could have walked with Antonio, but they were supposed to keep their meetings a secret, and he didn't want people to see them walking together, or there would most certainly be questions.<p>

When school let out, Lovino quickly walked home so he could avoid Feliciano and his bastard friend. As he made his way to his room so he could get his computer, Lovino grabbed a V8 (tomato flavored, of course) out of the refrigerator for a snack. He sat down on his bed and turned on his computer, googling the Panera Bread in town and printing the directions. Snatching the warm paper from the printer, Lovino left the house and began his walk to town, grateful that he didn't run into his brother or anyone else.

After getting lost a couple times, Lovino finally found his destination, and shoved the directions in his bag so Antonio wouldn't see them, feeling a little out of breath. Lovino paused to catch his breath before pushing the door of the restaurant open.

Almost right away, he spotted the back of Antonio's head and silently walked over to the table, putting his backpack on the chair across from Antonio.

"Lovi! I didn't see you get here, ahaha… It's so good to see you!" Antonio greeted him cheerfully.

"Idiot, I saw you half an hour ago," was the grumbled reply.

"Yes, well… I got a bread bowl of tomato soup! To share!"

Lovino stared at Antonio, face paling, then turning bright red as he looked at the steaming bowl in front of him as he began to splutter. "Wh-what the hell? What is this? We're here to study! And you bought soup, expecting me to share it with you? We're not mar-" Lovino caught himself before he finished that sentence and turned even redder.

"Ahahahha, Lovi, your face is the same color as the soup!" Antonio ate a spoonful of the tomato soup, causing Lovino to blush furiously and look away so he wouldn't shoot daggers at Antonio, because he would probably make a comment about that too. But before either of them could say something else, something red began to spread across the table rapidly, and they both gasped.

"What the fuck is that, bastard?" Lovino shrieked as the liquid started to drip on the floor, looking suspiciously like blood.

"I, ah, I think it's the soup…" Antonio admitted nervously.

"Well how the _hell_ did it get all over the fucking table? Get something to clean it up!" the Italian demanded.

"I think I ate the bottom of the bowl, ahahah," Antonio laughed and ran off to grab some napkins before Lovino could scream at him some more for being such an idiot. Which he was.

* * *

><p>By the time Antonio had finally cleaned up the mess from the tomato soup, Lovino was ready to bang his head repeatedly against the table. Their lesson had seemed to go well, yes, Antonio was getting better, if only a bit. But no, he had to keep trying to make the whole soup incident up to Lovino by offering to buy him dinner or come over and make some home-made paella (which sounded good, but not as good as Italian food).<p>

As much as the gesture pleased him, he refused. He made it seem as if he was appalled by the suggestion, even though he really, really wanted to comply.

Hell, Antonio had even offered to walk Lovino home again. Of course, Lovino objected because then he would have a lot of explaining to do when Feliciano saw them.

"So, tomorrow you're going to come over to do your math homework, right~?" Antonio interrupted Lovino's thoughts.

"R-right, bastard. And don't make tomato soup."

"But you love tomatoes!"

"If you make tomato soup, I swear-"  
>"Okay, I won't make <em>tomato soup<em>," Antonio said with a creepy eyebrow wiggle.

"You freak, I'm serious."

"As am I!"

Lovino left after that, making sure Antonio wasn't following him before pulling out the directions he had printed earlier so he could get home quickly. The November afternoon was chilly and it was starting to get darker outside.

* * *

><p>When Lovino finally made it home, it was almost completely dark outside, and it was getting very cold. He walked into the kitchen only to find… something very unexpected.<p>

Feliciano was on the floor, and Ludwig was… standing on top of the kitchen counter, scrubbing… the ceiling…?

"What the _fuck_ is going on in here?" Lovino screeched, causing Ludwig to fall off the counter and on top of a startled Feliciano.

"L-Lovi"

"_What are you doing on top of my brother_?"

"Fratello! Let me explain!" Feliciano pleaded, seeing his brother's face turn a very _angry_ shade of red.

"You _better_ explain what the hell happened in here!" The kitchen was covered in a disgusting orangey-paste looking thing, and it had even managed to cover the ceiling and the floor. On top of the counter was the blender, which held even more of the disgusting mystery substance.

"Well you see, Ludwig and I were hungry, so I decided to make dinner!" Feliciano started, while Ludwig sat down on the floor next to him, rubbing the bump on the back of his head. Lovino smirked as Feliciano went on. "But I had a craving for a smoothie! I cooked the spaghetti noodles in a pot first, then put the noodles in the blender with a tomato and some wurst! And then a noodle got caught in the blade and the blender exploded! Ka-boom!"

If Lovino had been confused before, then right now, he was so lost, even Google maps wouldn't be able to find his location.

"You… _put pasta in the blender_? With _wurst?_" Oh, that potato bastard had done it. "What the hell, Feliciano? Since when do we put pasta in the fucking blender? And since when do we eat wurst? What the fuck have you done to my brother?" Lovino shouted at Ludwig, who didn't even blink.

"I did nothing," Ludwig said, trying his best to stay calm.

"Shut up! Shut up! Just… Just get out! But clean this mess up first!" Lovino shrieked, and Feliciano looked like he was about to cry.

"Well, we were cleaning, before you barged in and started yelling at us," Ludwig pointed out.

"This is my house! I can barge into the kitchen whenever the hell I want to! Now clean this mess up and get out!" Lovino screamed and left the room, going up to his bedroom.

As soon as Lovino left, Feliciano burst into tears. Ludwig put a comforting arm around the younger boy, whispering something into his ear before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. Feliciano's cries came to a shuddering stop and buried his face into Ludwig's chest. The latter just stroked the Italian's hair softly.

"We should probably finish cleaning before your brother comes back," Ludwig murmured. Feliciano looked up, only to close his eyes in comfort as his companion pecked his forehead. Ludwig stood up and picked his cleaning cloth off the floor. Feliciano turned red and smiled as he grabbed his own cleaning cloth.

"You're right."

* * *

><p>Slamming his bedroom door shut, Lovino began to realize that it probably wasn't a good idea to have left his little brother alone with that creepy potato bastard. Especially if that creepy potato bastard's brother was Gilbert, who hung out with Francis a lot.<p>

_Ah, screw it,_ Lovino thought. He was so upset at that moment that he really didn't want to deal with either his brother or that wurst-sucking bastard. For the time being, he would leave them alone… He had to be nice sometimes. But only sometimes.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay for some Gerita? |D Alright, I admit, this chapter was a LOT of fun to write. And it's pretty cracky. I'm actually going to write an alternate ending to this chapter, but I think it will be borderline M, so I may not include it with this story. Buuuut it's going to be interesting. **

**For the next chapter, don't be expecting much of Toni! I'm going to write a little bit of Lovino and Feliciano bonding time. Oh, it really seems like I hate Feli and Ludwig, but I really love them. They're just sort of crack characters thrown in for my personal enjoyment. sorta. I'm being really mean to them... So next chapter will have lots of Feli! **

**Yeah, I know I said I would try to get in two updates before next week, and I'm really going to try. If I don't get the next one up, I'm so sorry. ): Thanks to everyone for your patience with this story! Sorry for the long A/N; I love you all (:**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry to disappoint you guys but this is NOT an update. somebody pointed out a mistake I made and I decided to fix it. but the only way for me to fix it is to delete the chapter and reupload it lkdhaslkdfh. aaaannyways even though I'm on vacation I have written chapter 12 and it should be up sometime in the next day or two (hopefully) once it is edited! Also there will be a special announcement in my A/N for the next chapter so watch out for that ;D**

* * *

><p>In the month and a half following the incident with the failed spaghetti smoothie, all the high school students were starting to get restless. December was upon them, and that meant winter break. For the Vargas brothers, it meant they were getting on a plane and going to visit their grandfather in Italy. At long last, Lovino would finally be getting a break from their new home and go back to his <em>true<em> home. Where it wouldn't be so damn _cold_. At least they were visiting Rome, and not the northern part of Italy.

The Vargas family left right after school got out, because their mother did not want them to miss any of their finals.

Leaving for vacation also meant that Lovino had to tell Antonio that they wouldn't be able to study over the break. Antonio had looked a bit crestfallen, but had quickly put on another one of his smiles. A fake one. Seeing Antonio's disappointment had made Lovino's heart warm a bit, but only a little bit.

* * *

><p>The moment Lovino stepped foot on the plane, he knew it was going to be a very long flight. He was sitting next to the isle, with Feliciano on his other side. They had a very fat flight attendant who bumped into everyone.<p>

"This is going to be so much fun, fratello! We get to order drinks and eat little chopped up peanuts and when we get to Italy we'll see Grandpa Roma!" Feliciano squealed as the air plane took off.

"Shut up, Feli, we've barely taken off and you're already rambling," Lovino said. "It's not like you've never been on a plane before."

"Yes, but it's still exciting!" the younger Italian bubbled, and Lovino groaned before putting headphones in his ear.

* * *

><p>Lovino opened his eyes as he felt someone poke his arm.<p>

"Can I get you something to drink?" the fat flight attendant asked. Lovino blinked before answering,

"Uh, a water, please."

"Sure thing. Can I get you something to drink?" Lovino checked the time on his iPod as the lady took his brother's order as well as their mother's order before she walked away, carrying her little notepad with her.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, Lovino stared at the little TV in front of him and tried to watch the cartoon, but he didn't understand what was going on. Feliciano seemed to be enjoying it, though, as he kept giggling at the stupid little things that happened.

Before long, Lovino heard the flight attendant coming back with the drinks. He pulled down the little tray under the screen and didn't notice as the flight attendant got stuck right behind him, and seemed to trip ever so slowly. Lovino felt the ice-cold drinks she had been carrying fall onto his lap and the liquid spread over his pants. Gasping in surprise, Lovino jumped and realized that he was still wearing his seatbelt and couldn't move very far.

"What the hell?" he snarled, suppressing a shiver.

"I am SO sorry!" the stewardess cried from the floor.

Lovino was fuming at this point, and many of the passangers on the

plane were beginning to stare.

"Ah, fratello-" Feliciano began hesitantly, but Lovino cut him off.

"Shut up, Feli. I don't want to talk to you right now," he hissed.

"I just wanted to say that I have a change of clothes in my bag that you can have!" Feliciano said before Lovino could cut him off.

"Ugh... Fine, give them to me," the older brother grumbled. Feliciano nodded and handed his bag to Lovino. The latter took the bag and walked back to the bathroom, making sure to go the opposite way of the flight attendant, who was still on the ground.

Luckily the bathroom was vacant, so Lovino locked the door behind him and began to strip the sticky clothes from his body. The bathroom was so small and it made it hard for him to move around, but it was times like this when he was grateful that both he and his brother wore the same size clothing. But of course, Feliciano wasn't anywhere near as stylish as Lovino was.

_My clothes are ruined, I didn't get my drink, and we haven't even left __the United States_, Lovino thought.

This was going to be one hell of a trip.

* * *

><p>"Feliciano! Lovino! Welcome home!" their grandfather called as the small family stepped off the terminal. Even though he still looked good, Lovino could tell that their grandfather was getting older. Much older.<p>

"Grandpa Roma!" Feliciano exclaimed, running to hug the smiling man.

"Feliciano! It's been so long since I last saw you! How's America? How's school? Have you made new friends?" Lovino rolled his eyes as Grandpa Roma bombarded Feliciano with questions. It was going to be a while till they left the airport, or even the gate, so Lovino decided to take a seat.

"Oi, Lovino, get your ass over here and say hello to your grandfather!" Grandpa Roma shouted before Lovino could sit down.

Scowling, Lovino made his way over to his grandfather, who had a huge smile on his face. It wouldn't be surprising if he were still reeling in the ladies.

"Ciao, Grandpa Roma," Lovino said.

"Wipe that scowl off your face, boy, and stop being such a downer," his grandfather said, before pulling his grandson into a huge hug.

Lovino did his best not to push away as his rib cage was squeezed, but didn't stop scowling. It definitely was going to be one long vacation.

* * *

><p>"Loviiiiiiiinooooo!" Feliciano shouted from downstairs. Lovino's head shot up from his pillow as he heard his name being called.<p>

"LovIIIIIIIIIIINO!" Feliciano called again. The sleepy Italian made his way out of bed and to the hallway. He peered down the railing and saw his brother standing in the foyer.

"What the _hell_ do you want, Feli? I was sleeping!"

"Mama and Grandpa Roma want us to go to the market and see if we can find anything else for the Christmas dinner!" Feliciano chirped, obviously unaware of Lovino's foul mood. Or maybe he was just used to it.

"Fine, you asshole, but next time don't wake me up like that! And I'm taking a shower before we leave!" the older snarled before going to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>"We need to get tomatoes and ingredients to make pasta!" Feliciano declared, reading what was on the small list in his hands. "And I still need go get you and Ludwig Christmas presents, so I'll leave you here now!" he didn't even notice that Lovino had stopped walking and was now a few feet behind him. "Lovino...?" he called softly?<p>

"You... Did you just say you're getting a Christmas present for that potato bastard?" Lovino asked slowly, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides as he tried to stay calm.

"Of course! And you can go and get one for Antonio~!" Alright, _what._

"Why the hell would you get him a Christmas present? And why would I get something for Antonio?"

"Well you see, fratello..." Feliciano said nervously.

"You better explain right now," Lovino hissed.

"Err... Ludwig and I are kind of... together," Feliciano mumbled, not looking at his brother. Lovino just gaped at him.

"Since when, Feliciano?"

"Since Halloween..."

Lovino took a deep breath before responding. He wasn't going to blow up at his brother. Not now, at least.

"Feli, why didn't you tell me?"

"I knew you would be mad... I don't even know why you don't really like him! He's nice, and he helps me a lot, and he loves my pasta!"

"I don't like him at _all_. His brother is that other potato bastard, and he's a a creep. I don't like you hanging around with him," Lovino said.

"Gilbert? But he's friends with Antonio!" Feliciano said, confused.

"Yeah, no wonder Antonio is so messed up," Lovino muttered.

"But you still like him!" Lovino's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he stared at his brother.

"How... How did you know about that?" Lovino asked, dumbfounded. He didn't even argue and tell Feliciano that he was wrong.

"It's kind of obvious, fratello... But it's okay! I like him! And he's really nice!" Feliciano said, back to his normal, cheery self.

Shit. How many people knew? It wasn't that obvious was it? Did that mean Antonio knew? Of course not... He was on oblivious bastard and wouldn't be able to tell Lovino liked him even if the former kissed him.

W-which he totally wouldn't.

"Whatever, I'm not getting him anything," Lovino mumbled, face turning as red as the tomatoes next to them. Feliciano was smart enough to not make a remark about it, though, unlike Antonio, if he had been there.

"But fratello, if you did maybe he would realize that you like him! And then everybody would be happy~" Feliciano said with a dreamy look on his face.

"Too bad," Lovino said, and walked away to look for Christmas gifts for his family.

* * *

><p>Feliciano and Lovino made their way home about an hour later, carrying a few grocery bags. Lovino had taken Feliciano's suggestion and bought Antonio a thick leather bracelet with a stone turtle on the front. Antonio had once mentioned to Lovino that he had several pet turtles. This small gift was in his pocket, so Feliciano wouldn't know he had bought it.<p>

* * *

><p>The next day was Christmas, and the whole house was woken up by, surprisingly, Grandpa Roma, and not Feliciano, shouting something about presents.<p>

Sleepily, Lovino crawled out of bed and went downstairs, still in his pajamas. He didn't want to ruin the day, so he forced a small smile and "Merry Christmas" when his mom and brother came downstairs.

Almost as soon as everybody was downstairs, Grandpa Roma started ripping wrapping paper off presents, and Feliciano was right behind him. A little bit slower, Lovino also opened his presents.

"Wow, fratello, grazie, grazie! I love it!" Feliciano squealed as he held a huge blanket with a pasta design on it.

"Yeah, it was nothing," Lovino said. "And thanks for the pillow." he was holding a tomato-shaped pillow, and it matched the color of his walls at home.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was spent getting ready for dinner. Feliciano was cooking a giant pot of his best pasta, and Lovino was making the sauce. Grandpa Roma and their mom were making the dessert. For four people, they sure were making a lot of food.<p>

Christmas music was playing from somewhere in the big house, and everybody was singing, even Lovino.

Dinner was delicious, naturally, and everyone went to bed after the huge meal because their stomachs were so full.

Admittedly, it wasn't too bad to be spending time with the family again. They would be returning to America in two days, so they could be back in time for school and still have time to recover from the jet lag.

The moment Lovino's head hit his new tomato pillow, he was asleep, and he slept until one in the afternoon the next day.

* * *

><p>After Lovino had woken up, taken a shower, and had lunch, Feliciano asked him to go on a walk around the town. Lovino sensed that there was something his younger brother wanted to talk about, so he agreed.<p>

"So Feliciano..." Lovino said after they had been walking in silence for about ten minutes. "What is it?"

Feliciano knew there was no getting out of it anymore, so he shuffled his feet around and put his hands in his pockets before answering.

"I just... Wanted to know if you were okay with me and Ludwig going out," Feliciano finally admitted. Lovino blinked and didn't look at his brother.

"Well... You know I don't like him," he started, "but if he makes you happy..." Feliciano looked at him with hope in his amber eyes. "I don't think I have a right to say anything." There. He could be a great big brother sometimes. Feliciano stared at him before breaking out into a huge smile.

"Thank you, Lovi!" he squeaked and hugged the older Italian.

"The fuck, Feli?" he snarled. "Get off me! And why the hell are you calling me Lovi?"

"Antonio does it all the time and you don't care, and I'm your brot-"

"I do _not_ let that bastard call me Lovi, and I'm not going to let you do it either!"

"Yes you do!" Feliciano argued before running back to the house.

Lovino glared at his back before following.

* * *

><p>During dinner, Lovino must have been spacing out because he never noticed when anybody was trying to talk to him, and he wasn't glaring at anyone. His fork continued to prod his pasta as he played with his food. However, everybody seemed to be quite content with his silence, so they didn't ask him any questions. And for once, Feliciano kept his mouth shut.<p>

When dinner was over, Lovino realized that he still had to pack everything because their flight left at eleven in the morning, and he wouldn't have time. Sighing, he began to empty the drawers in his room and put the contents in his suitcase.

As he opened the last drawer, he saw the bracelet he had gotten for Antonio, and picked it up. The little silver turtle glinted in the dim lamp light of the room. Lovino stared at the bracelet before hiding it safely in one of the pockets in his suitcase.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: LONG CHAPTER IS LONG. This is what I have decided to reward you with since I will be gone for the next week. I highly doubt I will be able to get an update in while I'm in Panama, so don't get your hopes up. If there are any mistakes in this chapter regarding paragraph spacing, it's because I typed it all on my iPod, and when I put it on Word it looked fine. But when I put it on FF the spacing got messed up... bluhh. **

**So in this chapter we had some brotherly bonding time! And Lovi doesn't completely hate Feli... hehe. As for that bracelet Lovino bought Toni... Hmm, well let's see where that goes. And if the bracelet seems too girly, I'm sorry OTL**

**I know this isn't the best chapter, but I wrote it while I was doing nothing while volunteering during vacation bible school, and it was 8 in the morning so I had no ideas... Hopefully I can get chapter 12 up shortly after I return because I am going to try to write it while in Panama. Thank you so much to everybody who has read this story. Can I just hold you all forever? 3**

**uhmm also some translations for pretty much the whole story...**

**grazie- thank you**

**ciao- hello/goodbye**

**che cazzo- what the fuck**

**che palle- what balls**

**that's all I can think of right now; hopefully I'll remember to put these in the next chapter hehe**

**I LOVE YOU ALL OKAY**


	12. Chapter 12

The morning school resumed, Lovino was almost late because he hadn't woken up on time. He scrambled to take a shower and get dressed, while grabbing a piece of cold pizza from the fridge. When he was almost out the door, he realized that he forgot his backpack as well as the bracelet he was going to be giving to Antonio. If he could muster the courage. Of course, it would also be their first after school lesson in over two weeks.

Upon the first few seconds after walking into the math room, Antonio nearly pounced on Lovino.

"Lovi! I missed you so much! How was Italy? Did you have a good Christmas? What did you get? Ooh, you're supposed to come over after school!" he rambled.  
>"Shut up, you idiot, people are staring." Again, Lovino added. Damn, Antonio always managed to cause a scene, which usually involved a bunch of giggling girls in the back corner of the room.<br>"Oops! Sorry!" Antonio said, his smile not even faltering. "We haven't hung out in so long though!"

"We don't 'hang out' Antonio," Lovino said with a faint blush. Oh, how he would love to hang out with the Spaniard sometime...

"Well, we should, then!" Antonio said, as if he could read Lovino's mind.

"Like I would hang out with you," the Italian said with no malice in his voice, and looking everywhere but at Antonio. The latter seemed to notice this and his smile became, if possible, even bigger.

"Bastard," Lovino added quietly.

* * *

><p>"You never did tell me, how was Italy? Did you have a nice Christmas?"<p>

Antonio asked Lovino as the pair walked to Antonio's house after school. The January afternoon was unusually warm, but still very cold, and both boys were wearing coats and gloves. Antonio had a red and yellow scarf wrapped around his neck, and Lovino wore his hood up.

"It was... Fine," Lovino said. "Christmas was good. Ate a lot of food. And apparently Feliciano and Ludwig have been going out since Halloween." He still hadn't given Antonio the bracelet he had gotten on his trip, but Antonio continued to beam.

"That's great, Lovino! But… you really didn't know about that?" he asked, a bit surprised.

"Damn, am I the only one who didn't know?" he groaned. Why didn't Feliciano tell him before?

"Well, I heard it through Gilbert, so…" Antonio trailed off and shrugged. "I thought you already knew."

"Ugh. Whatever. …How was your Christmas, anyways?" he asked bluntly.

"It was great! My family from Spain came over, and I got to use a bit of the Spanish you taught me! Of course, I got a bit excited and forgot most of it..." he trailed off, looking at the ground. His cheeks were dusted with pink, but Lovino passed it as being from the cold.

"Idiot," he murmured, smiling at the ground. "That means I'll have to go harder on you during our Spanish lessons." It wasn't until the words were out of his mouth that Lovino realized what he had said.

Both boys turned bright red and continued to stare furiously at the ground. "I-I mean I w-won't let you slack off on doing your work," he stammered. "Dammit, you know what I mean!" he spat as Antonio coughed.

"Mmm, of course_, mí tomate_," Antonio said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"I- you- _what?_" Lovino spluttered.

"You look just like one of my tomatoes~" Antonio shrugged. He had hoped Lovino would catch on...

"Fuck you," the smaller boy muttered.

"Hmmm," Antonio hummed quietly, causing Lovino to almost trip in shock. However, he pretended he hadn't heard anything and neither of them said anything for the rest of the walk.

* * *

><p>Lovino and Antonio were seated around the kitchen table in Antonio's house, backpacks on the floor. They had been sitting there for about half an hour, when Antonio suddenly remembered something.<p>

"Oh! Lovino! I got you a Christmas present!" he exclaimed and jumped out of his chair.

"What?" Lovino asked. He had been in the middle of working out a particularly difficult problem. "Why would you get me something?"

"Ahahah! You're so silly! You're my friend, and I get friends presents for Christmas! But don't worry; you didn't have to get me anything! I just like giving presents!" Antonio skipped- yes, skipped- upstairs to his room without awaiting a reply. Lovino watched him go for a minute before realizing that he should give Antonio his present, too. He looked down and saw Antonio's backpack lying on the floor and made a snap decision as he heard Antonio coming back down the stairs. As quick as possible, Lovino took the bracelet out of his pocket and put it in the Spaniard's backpack, banging his head on the table as he sat up when Antonio entered the kitchen.

"Eh? Lovino, what are you doing?" he asked, cocking his head to one side, a frown on his face.

"Fuck! I was... Getting a pencil! Then your damn table attacked my head!" Lovino said, clutching the back of his head and swearing.

"A pencil? But you have one in your hand," Antonio said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, I wanted another one! Can't I get another pencil if I want one?" Lovino rubbed the back of his aching head. Damn, there was going to be a bruise.

"Do you need some ice?" Antonio asked, concerned.

"I don't need anything..." Lovino swore again, but Antonio was sitting next to Lovino, holding an ice pack against his head before Lovino could finish what he was saying.

"Is that better, _mí tomate_?" he murmured.

"S-shit," Lovino breathed. "That's fucking cold," he shivered (convincing himself it was from the cold and not Antonio's sudden appearance), not even complaining about the pet name. What was up with that, anyways? He wondered.

"Well, it is ice," Antonio chuckled.

"Hey, bastard, what are you doing?" Lovino squeaked as he realized that Antonio had one arm around him, holding the ice pack.

"Hmm? Oh... I... Er... Here's your present, Lovi!" he picked held up what he had been holding in his other hand. It was a beautifully knitted scarf with the colors of the Italian flag on it.

"...You knit me a scarf," Lovino said dumbfounded, forgetting the previous awkwardness.

"Yes! My mother taught me how to do it, and I thought you would like it. You do like it, right?"

"Sure," he said, taking the scarf in his hands. It truly was a beautiful work of art. And Antonio had even made it himself, while thinking of Lovino. He had to hide the smile that was creeping up on his face at that thought.

"I'm glad!" Antonio smiled widely.

Lovino had to look away so he wouldn't blush anymore.

"A-are we just going to sit here all night, or are we actually going to finish this math shit?" Lovino demanded when it got awkward again.

"Right, let's finish this... Though I would love to just spend the rest of the night sitting with you," Antonio said so quietly, that Lovino wasn't even sure he had even heard it. He fidgeted in his seat and looked at his paper.

"O-okay..."

* * *

><p>As soon as their study session was over, Lovino all but bolted out of Antonio's house. True, everything had gone well, but he just needed to think. So much had happened, and he was so confused.<p>

Antonio had probably been kidding about everything, he thought. There was no way he could really have meant that he wanted to spend the rest of the night with him.

Lovino put his hands in his pocked and kicked a rock he saw on the street as hard as he could. Antonio was so confusing, even worse than a girl. He sighed and leaned against a lamppost, watching his breath form a cloud in the cold air. Sighing again, he realized that he was hungry and needed to get home.

Looking up at the cloudy sky, he saw little snowflakes falling down. Suddenly he was thankful for the new scarf around his neck as he turned and walked home, thinking of the afternoon's events.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Short chapter is short... Oh well, at least I got it updated while on vacation! I wrote this while we were camping... Mhmmmm. Oh the great outdoors. Today we went to go see the canal, which was pretty coooool. **

**Aaaanyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the fail attempt at fluff... suggestive Antonio and oblivious Lovino, anybody?**

**So. Many. Reviews. For the last chapter. Sooo, I have a proposition for you guys! Only 10 more reviews until I hit 50! I really want to write another story after this, and I'm going to let one person decide what it should be about (sort of)! Whoever is the 50th reviewer will get to pick the pairing (and maybe the plot depending on the pairing) for my next story. I will send that reviewer a PM telling them they get to choose the pairing, so please don't leave reviews asking about it. Also, do not submit more than one review for this chapter or I will not choose you. Gotta be fair D: I won't just do any pairing, so I'll tell them which pairings I'm willing to write. If you don't want it to be a romance story, that's fine too :3**

**^ I hope that wasn't too confusing. I'm really looking forward to this and I can't wait to see what you guys have in mind. Don't worry, I won't start working on it until I finish this, because this is my number one priority. I love you all so much and thank you for the notifications! **

**Hmm, and I'm thinking that the next chapter might be from Antonio's POV! ;D **

**...Okay, this a/n is going to be longer than the chapter at this rate. ILY ALL :DDD**


	13. Chapter 13

Antonio sighed as he watched the door shut behind Lovino. Sitting down at the kitchen table, he rubbed his chin. Lovino didn't seem to get that Antonio liked him. Maybe he just wasn't trying hard enough, or his actions weren't very obvious. Was Lovino even interested in guys? True, Antonio had seen him flirt with many of the pretty girls at their school, but he never seemed truly interested in any of them. He vaguely remembered Feliciano saying something about Lovino never having a girlfriend before, too.

Antonio sighed again. Oh well. It really seemed like Lovino hated him, but Francis had told him to try harder.

Deciding that the only useful thing he could do at the moment was his homework, he reached into his backpack. His hand brushed against something soft on top of his binder. Frowning, he pulled out a simple leather bracelet with a turtle on it.

_How did this get here?_ Antonio wondered. Then it clicked. The bracelet hadn't been there when school got out. He had walked in when Lovino had been ducking under the table, and the boy had been startled when Antonio walked in.

A huge smile spreading across his face, Antonio put the bracelet on his wrist. It really was beautiful, but it wasn't girly. Lovino had even remembered that Antonio liked turtles.

So Lovino remembering that small thing and buying him a present must count for something, right?

There was another problem, though. Lovino was getting much better at math. It wouldn't be long before he wouldn't need Antonio to help him anymore. That worried him. If Lovino stopped needing him, would that mean he would also stop helping Antonio? He sure hoped not.

* * *

><p>Lovino hadn't said anything about Antonio's bracelet during first period, so he decided not to bring it up before the Italian noticed. However, Francis and Gilbert were quick to spot it.<p>

"Whoa, Toni, where'd you get that cool bracelet?" Gilbert asked during English.

"Was it a Christmas present?" Francis asked.

"Umm... Yeah," Antonio said, twisting it between his fingers. He didn't want to tell them that Lovino got it for him or there would be trouble.

"From a lover?" Francis questioned, eyebrows raised.

"What, that Italian bitch?" Gilbert snorted. "Why do you even put up with him when you could be spending all your time with someone as

awesome as me?"

"He's not my lover," Antonio sighed. But I wish he was, he added silently." And he's not a bitch. He's... Bearable when you get to know him." And loveable, adorable, caring...

"Sticking up for him? Really, Toni? It sure does seem like you have a little crush," Gilbert smirked.

Antonio fidgeted in his seat a little bit and frowned. "Gil, maybe you should stop being the ass," he said quietly. Francis held his tongue and just watched as the tension built up between the two.

"You're calling me an ass? Seriously? Have you not seen how he acts?"

Gilbert asked incredulously. "His brother comes over all the time, and he's so much nicer. I don't know what happened to Lovino."

"Maybe if you didn't think the world revolved around you, you'd be more likeable."

"Well maybe if you stopped being so-"

"Mr. Carriedo, Mr. Beilschmidt, do you have something you would like to share with the class?" the teacher called.

"No, sir," they both answered, still glaring at each other.

* * *

><p>"I don't know what I did," Antonio said to Francis as they walked down the hallway. Gilbert had stormed out of the classroom before anybody was out of their seats.<p>

"He misses you," Francis said simply.

"Misses me? But we see each other all the time!" Antonio said, confused.

"True, but it isn't the same. He's... Right, in a way. You spend much more time with Lovino now, and he doesn't understand why you would hang out with him. We've always been together, but this year things have changed," he explained.

"Oh," Antonio said.

"He also... Well, we also noticed that you've been... Rather busy during the week," Francis continued. Antonio stiffened. "What have you been up to?"

"Well, um," Antonio mumbled, playing with his sleeve.

"We know you've been with Lovino," Francis said. Antonio looked at him wide-eyed.

"How did you know that?"

"Gilbert has seen you leave the school with him almost every single day." Gilbert had been transferred to their Spanish class about two weeks before winter break after being kicked out of his German class for swearing at the teacher so much. However, he and Antonio could never talk because they sat on opposite sides of the room and were forbidden to work together.

When Antonio didn't answer, Francis asked again. "What have you two been doing?"

"Er... It's kind of... Private," Antonio stared at his locker without putting in the combination.

Francis perked up at that. "Ohonhonhon, are you two in a relationship?" he asked.

"No! No, Francis, we aren't! It's just, he doesn't want me to tell people, and made me promise I wouldn't tell you guys..." Antonio trailed off. Francis looked like he didn't believe him.

"You don't have to lie," Francis said with a glint in his eye.

"Damn it, Francis, shut up," Antonio said, exasperated.

"But really," he went on, "Gil misses you. I miss you. He was just more vocal about it. And I understand if you have some other business to attend to." He winked.

"Sorry about that," the Spaniard sighed. "I'm still free Friday nights, though."

"Gilbert seems to be spending Fridays with Matthew nowadays," Francis mused.

"His loss, then. Also, another reason why he shouldn't be mad at me for spending time with Lovino." He turned around and started to head in the opposite direction. "See you at lunch, Francis!"

* * *

><p>Gilbert had come to lunch late, and had started walking to their usual table, but when he saw Francis and Antonio laughing about something, he glared at them for a second before whipping around to go sit with Matthew and his brother, Alfred. Arthur looked up to see Gilbert sitting with them, scoffed, and went back to reading his book. Antonio saw this and stopped laughing, and instead sighed. If Gilbert wanted to blame everything on Antonio, he could.<p>

Scanning the cafeteria, Antonio didn't see Lovino anywhere, and frowned. He had been in math earlier, but he definitely wasn't at lunch right now. Francis noticed the troubled look on Antonio's face and nudged him.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, ahaha, I'm fine!" Antonio said, brushing off his previous confusion.

* * *

><p>Antonio rolled his sleeves up again as he sat in his seat during Spanish. It was so hot in the room.<p>

"W-where did you get that bracelet?" Antonio looked at Lovino sitting next to him. He looked a bit shocked, and Antonio chuckled.

"I think we both know where I got it from," he smiled.

"But- you- I-" Lovino stammered.

"Thank you," Antonio cut him off by placing his hand on the younger boy's wrist. "I love it." Lovino turned bright red and looked down to where Antonio's hand rested on his wrist, the cold silver turtle brushing against his skin. Antonio noticed what he was looking at and blushed, quickly pulling his hand back. He thought he saw disappointment flash in Lovino's eyes, but couldn't be sure.

Clearing his throat, Antonio looked back at Lovino again. "So… I… Hmm," he tried to figure out how to ask.

"W-what is it, bastard?" Lovino said. His words weren't as harsh as they normally were, and his eyes were curious.

"I was wondering… Would you like to hang out on Friday?" Lovino stared at him for a while, so Antonio went on. "You know… Like going to the movies, or just hanging out…"

"I know what hanging out means," he snapped. "But why would you want to hang out with me…?" The question was sincere, and it caught Antonio off guard.

"Because we're friends," Antonio answered.

"S-sure," Lovino said quietly, surprised. "Sure, uh, I guess we could hang out," he added a bit louder, not looking at Antonio.

"Okay, great," Antonio said, a huge smile forming on his face. "Come over after school then!"

"I thought we were going to my house today," Lovino murmured. Antonio looked at him, confused for a minute.

"What do you… Oh! Silly Lovi! I meant on Friday!"  
>"Oh," Lovino said, looking away. "Whatever."<br>Antonio smiled and looked back towards the front of the room. He caught Gilbert looking at him with a mixture of anger and sadness, but they both looked away at the same time.

Antonio was frustrated. Gilbert was mad at him for something stupid, but he had never bothered to tell Antonio about it so he could fix it. Now he didn't know if things would ever be okay between them again. Truth be told, Antonio really didn't want that to happen, because Gilbert had been his best friend as long as he remembered.

Then he smiled again, because he knew he was going to be spending Friday with Lovino. Antonio wanted to make sure it was fun for him, and hopefully it would mean they would become better friends.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OH GOODNESS. MY APOLOGIES FOR SUCH A LATE UPDATE. I was planning to have it up on Wednesday because I wrote the first half of this chapter on the way home from Panama on Tuesday, but as soon as I got home I had to go to band camp. And I did NOT have time to write after camp started. I've been at school every day since Wednesday for about nine hours each day, from 8-12 then 3-9, so I haven't had any writing time. I'm so, so sorry guys. **

**I start high school on Tuesday (x_x save meeee) so I really don't know how much time I'm going to have to write after school. Hopefully I'll be able to update at least once a week. Blaaah. And because of Marching band I won't have time on Wednesdays and Fridays. Or Saturdays, because I volunteer at an animal shelter. So yeah.**

**Thank you guys so much for over 50 reviews! Oh my gosh, it made me so happy :DDDDD And the 50th reviewer was Someone-you-do-not-know and they asked me to write a BTTxRomano story. So watch out for that once this story is over! **

**I updated my profile with information on stories I'm planning on writing, so check that out if you want to know.**

**owo Thank you all again for the reviews/favorites/alerts! They mean so much to me33333 I hope you guys enjoy this chapter from Antonio's POV! Tell me if you guys want me to do the next chapter the same way or not. Sorry if they seem sort of OOC in this chapter... Urg, it's not the best, but I've been so busy. OKAY I'LL SHUT UP NOW.**


	14. Chapter 14

The days until Friday seemed to drag by, but the final minutes till the bell rang during Spanish were the worst. Antonio tapped his foot anxiously and kept casting glances at the clock. Where he was going to go with Lovino was still undecided, but he was excited nonetheless.

Lovino, he noticed, also seemed to be anxious. He had been zoning out and playing with his hands a lot. Antonio smiled, realizing that Lovino was probably looking forward to it, too. _His shyness is so cute!_ He thought. Then he looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Antonio stared at the clock until at long last, the second hand hit the twelve and the bell rang. Due to his excitement, he almost knocked his chair over when he stood up.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked Lovino, a huge smile on his face. He was so impatient to get out of the school and do something fun with Lovino. Maybe they could go get ice cream!

"Damn, bastard, I've barely gotten out of my seat," Lovino said, fighting to keep the smile tugging on his lips from showing.

"Where do you want to go?" Antonio was now rocking back and forth on his toes.

"I-I don't care… Besides, you asked me, so you should have picked the place," Lovino muttered.

"Ahahah, right! Well then… would you like to just come over to my house?"

"Whatever, not like it matters," Lovino said, picking up his backpack from the chair. They were the only two left in the classroom now, besides the teacher, who cleared his throat and looked at the two boys. Lovino and Antonio jumped a bit, and looked up, both turning red.

"Y-yeah, so let's go!" Antonio laughed shakily, making his way out the door. Lovino followed him more slowly, and Antonio turned around and grabbed his wrist to drag him along. "Lovi, you're so slow!" he said.

"W-what the hell are you doing, bastard?" Lovino gasped, trying to pull his wrist free. He was blushing furiously and the Spaniard turned back to look at their hands. So close, yet so far…

""Oh, sorry…" he said, blushing as well.

"Fuck, what was _that_?" Lovino asked, holding his wrist, and not meeting Antonio's eyes.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you? Let me see," Antonio said gently, pulling Lovino's hand away from his chest. The latter froze, but didn't fight back.

"I'm fight, idiot," Lovino protested.

"But Lovi, if I hurt you I want to make sure you're okay! Do you need some ice when we get to my house?"

"Fuck no! Not with the damn ice again!" Lovino groaned, and they both remembered the last time Lovino had needed ice. That hadn't completely been Antonio's fault, but still…

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized, really feeling bad. This really wasn't a good way to start off their dat- er, afternoon.

"Stop apologizing, bastard, I'm not hurt," Lovino sighed. "Really."  
>"Are you sure?"<p>

"_Positive_." Antonio sighed in relief, realizing that Lovino was being honest.

"Alright then, let's go."

* * *

><p>Antonio didn't say anything about Lovino's wrist for the rest of the walk home, and was glad to see that Lovino really didn't seem to be in any pain. Now what they should do, he really had no idea.<p>

They were sitting on Antonio's bed, and Lovino was looking around the room.  
>"Is that your turtle?" he asked suddenly, pointing to one corner of the room. Antonio looked over to where Lovino was looking and nodded.<p>

"Yes, that's Mr. Swimmy! He doesn't really swim much, though…" Antonio said. "Do you want to hold him?" Lovino had gotten up to get a look at the small turtle in the glass case.

"Ugh, no, I'd rather not touch that," Lovino said, a grimace on his face. "Turtles are gross."

"Don't say that! You might hurt his feelings!" Antonio said, having moved over to the turtle's cage and taking him out.

"Yeah, sorry," Lovino snorted, but then smiled when he saw Antonio's expression. The older boy looked genuinely hurt. Hurt for his poor turtle.

"How could you buy me a bracelet with a little turtle on it if you don't even like turtles yourself?" Antonio asked, petting Mr. Swimmy, who was trying to crawl up his arm.

"Because _you_ like turtles," Lovino sighed.

"But you could have gotten me something else!"

"Do you not like what I got you?" Lovino raised his eyebrows and bit his bottom lip.

"No! I didn't mean that!' Antonio said, shocked. "I was just wondering why you would get something for me that you don't even like. Not that I don't like it, because I do!"

"Well… I knew you would like it so I guess that's why I got it. Besides, it must be nice if I got it. I wouldn't buy something that was unstylish for anybody."

"Of course not," Antonio laughed. He put the turtle back in the tank and squirt some hand sanitizer on his hand from the bottle next to the glass cage.

"I knew those things were riddled with disease," Lovino observed as he watched Antonio rub the hand sanitizer all over.

"No he's not! I just want to be careful! You should wash your hands after touching any kind of animal," he said seriously. "You never know what kind of germs they may carry!"

"You're messed up in the head, aren't you?" Lovino snickered.

"Lovi! That is so rude!" Antonio looked appalled. But when he saw the look on Lovino's face, he started to laugh. "Well, maybe just a little. But you're still being mean!"

"I've been told."

"By who?"

"Everybody." Antonio frowned. He knew that Lovino wasn't always the nicest person, but didn't anybody else see that he never really meant it? Okay, maybe he did sometimes, but usually the Italian was only faking it!

"What do you mean…?"

Lovino sighed. "Everybody always compares me to Feliciano. Go figure. He's the better kid, of course. Always been more popular, more smiley, happy all the time, never hated anyone. When he was born, everybody pushed me aside and fell in love with Feli. I can't really blame him, because he didn't do anything. Though I've always been jealous.

"When we were younger, I was always his shadow, even though I'm a year older. I can't really remember much from when he was born, of course, but from as far back as I can remember, he always got more attention. Our mom was always fussing over him, and our grandfather would spend all of our time together painting with Feliciano. I was never very good at painting, but I could do other things!" Lovino's voice was bitter, but Antonio listened anyways. He knew the younger boy needed to get it off his chest.

"I never had many friends back in Italy because everybody liked Feliciano more. He was nicer. You can't blame me, if you had grown up, pushed to the side, then maybe you'd understand. So when we moved here, I was really hoping that I could get a fresh start and make new friends. But it's not like I could just push my personality aside. I don't really like people. He's the exact opposite. That makes it really hard for me to make friends. Feli loves me and all, but he doesn't want to spend all his time around me. No one does. Which made me wonder, when I met you… Why did you stick around for so long?" Antonio looked at him for a minute, taking it all in. Had Lovino really just told him all that? He knew that Lovino probably didn't tell many people about this, so he took a deep breath before he responded.

Lovino looked at Antonio straight in the eye before he had a chance to reply. The latter noticed that Lovino's amber eyes were a pool of emotions: hurt, anger, sadness, and need. At that moment, he knew that he needed to say the right words to comfort Lovino, because that was what the younger boy needed. He needed a friend.

"Before you moved here, the only friends I really had were Gilbert and Francis. There were people like Bella, who I talked to a lot and had a good relationship with, but I never really talked to them about my feelings. To be honest, I never really even talked to Francis or Gilbert. They're the kind of friends I only ever get into trouble with. And lately, Gilbert and I haven't been getting along.

"When I met you, I tried to be nice because you were new, and you looked like someone I could talk to easily. At first you were a douche bag, and I don't really know why I put up with you. I guess… I guess I saw past everything you were hiding and realized that you really are a caring person. I saw that and I wanted to bring that out. It proved to be a lot harder than I thought it would." He laughed, and Lovino bit his lip.

"After a while, I realized that I didn't need to bring it out. You weren't going to change and become as nice as your brother. That doesn't matter to me. You act like you hate people, but you really don't. It's just your way of showing you care. I don't know why you told me all of this, but I'm glad you did. I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me. I really like you, Lovino. Honestly. Anybody who says you're not as good as your brother doesn't know what they're talking about." Antonio smiled, and Lovino looked like he was on the verge of tears. Antonio's words hadn't been what Lovino had expected, and he really couldn't believe what he had heard.

"It's not good to hold it all in, you know," he said softly, and put his hand on Lovino's arm. "Sometimes it's best to let it all out."

"F-fuck, bastard," Lovino choked out, smiling a bit resting his head on Antonio's shoulder. Antonio hugged him and let him cry. Sure, he liked Lovino as more than a friend, but right now the Italian just needed to let everything he had been holding in out. So he let him.

For a couple of minutes, they just sat there like that. Lovino crying into Antonio's shoulder, and Antonio patting his back. After a while, Lovino finally pulled back, wiping the tears from his face.

"T-thanks," Lovino mumbled, his voice cracking a bit.

"It was nothing," Antonio smiled. "Do you want some pasta?"

"Well, I can't say no," Lovino said, a small smile on his lips.

* * *

><p>"Sorry it's not going to be the best pasta you've ever had," Antonio apologized, setting down a plate of spaghetti in front of the Italian.<p>

"Fuck no it's not," Lovino agreed. "Only I can make the best pasta." He picked up his fork and began to eat.

"So how is it?" Antonio asked anxiously, watching Lovino's every move.

"Well… it's not the greatest…" Antonio's face fell. "But it's not terrible, either. It may be the best I've had after me and Feli's."

Antonio smiled in relief. "I'm glad you liked it."

"You'd be living through hell if you made me disgusting pasta. I can't just let that stuff go by." Lovino said seriously, taking another bite. "Are you gonna eat or just keep staring at me?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'll eat…" Antonio said quickly, picking up his own fork.

"Oh, I'm not coming over on Monday for math practice," Lovino said suddenly. Antonio almost dropped his fork and felt his heart sink.

"You're… you're not?" he asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. This is what he had been dreading.

"No. I've got other stuff going on."

"Well… okay," Antonio said, winding pasta around on his fork. He wasn't hungry anymore.

"What's wrong with you? I tell you I can't come and all the sudden you look like your grandma died or something," Lovino raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine," Antonio said, forcing a fake smile.

"Liar. It's not like I won't come back ever again. I've just got other stuff I need to do that day, okay? Calm down," Lovino told him. The Spaniard felt his breathing ease a bit.

"Ah, right," Antonio nodded. He felt selfish. He had wanted Lovino to give up whatever he had to do and stay with him.

"Are you ready for the Spanish test on Monday?" Lovino inquired.

"Hmm? Oh, the Spanish test… Yes!" Antonio nodded his head vigorously, feeling like he would be able to do it. "You've been a wonderful teacher!"

"R-right," Lovino blushed. "Maybe if you ace it I won't have to help you anymore," he said, not looking Antonio in the eye.

Instantly, Antonio felt his heart drop again. "Yeah… Maybe not," he laughed.

"Fuck," Lovino looked the time on his phone. "I gotta go. Uh, thanks for having me," he said quickly, so quickly that the older boy wasn't sure he heard the words.

"Not a problem!" Antonio said cheerfully. "Thank you for coming over. Really. For everything." He made sure that Lovino looked straight into his eyes, but the younger boy soon looked away.

"Yeah, you too," he said. "I'll see you on Monday."  
>"Monday!"<p>

"Bye."

"Bye, Lovi!" Antonio waved as the Italian walked out the door.

One thing was for sure. It was going to be a long weekend.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I GIVE YOU ALL PERMISSION TO HATE ME. UGHHHH. I am sooooo sorry for taking so long to upload this. I've had it done for two weeks but my dear editor (YES KATHERINE, THAT'S YOU) decided not to edit and when she did she only changed one thing. bluh. but i love her anyways. **

**I know I said updates probably once a week, but I don't know if that's going to be possible D: I have so much to do with all the honors classes I'm taking and all the marching band practices I have. All of my apologies. Plus my editor is really slow (COUGH) so yeah. Putting chapters up isn't easy, especially since my parents are always nearby... sigh. **

**Notes on this chapter! ...Yeah, I know it sucks. I really don't know what made me write this... Ugh. Angst and emotions! wooooot. Thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter! I love you all and all the support is so great. You're the best, guys. :D I'm not going to make any promises for the next chapter because I have no idea when I'll be able to write. So sorry, but I WILL be finishing this story. Prooomiiiseee. Thank you all again!**


	15. Chapter 15

The next two days were torture for both Lovino and Antonio. The former spent the rest of the weekend locked in his bedroom, replaying the events of Friday night in his mind, and only coming out to eat and use the bathroom. Feliciano was spending the weekend at Ludwig's house, and their mother was working.

He couldn't believe that he had told Antonio all that stuff about Feliciano. Lovino had never told anybody about it before, not even his mother. That was almost obvious, however, because Lovino wasn't particularly close to his mother.

Antonio had somehow known all the right things to say to Lovino, and that was what touched him the most. The two hadn't known each other for more than six months, yet Lovino was spilling all his secrets.

And the Italian knew he was in love with Antonio. But how would Antonio react if he told him? He'd probably be disgusted and never want anything to do with Lovino ever again. At this thought, Lovino shuddered. He knew that Antonio would find out sooner or later. Francis already knew, and he would probably tell the Spaniard if he hadn't already known.

Lovino decided that he should study for the Spanish test they were having the next day so he could get his mind off things.

* * *

><p>On Monday, Antonio had greeted Lovino cheerily in math. They were taking notes all period, she they didn't have any time to talk.<p>

At lunch, Francis needed to talk to Antonio about something important, so once again, Lovino wasn't able to say anything to Antonio. The latter looked regretful when his French friend pulled him away, however.

During Spanish, Lovino noticed that Antonio was fidgeting throughout the entire test. He frowned, because the material was easy. Antonio had been doing really well with it the week before. The Spaniard didn't seem to be struggling, but it looked like he really wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. Lovino sighed and went back to taking his test so he wouldn't get called on for cheating.

* * *

><p>"That test was easy," Lovino remarked after class.<p>

"Mhmm," Antonio agreed, not looking him in the eye. "Er, I've got to get going… Mom wants me home for something," he apologized. "I'll see you tomorrow! I have another Spanish lesson!"

"You're not going to need it anymore if you've done well on this test," Lovino said. Antonio's face seemed to fall.

"Yeah… you're right…" Lovino frowned, and Antonio noticed. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Lovi!" and then he darted off before the Italian could reply.

Lovino shoved his hands in his pocket and watched him run away. That was weird. Weird for even Antonio. Was he mad at Lovino?

He kicked a rock down the street and walked home, deep in thought. Once again, he locked himself in his room before Feliciano got home. If he was quiet enough, the younger Italian would just think that Lovino had gone out again.

Without any homework to do, Lovino was stuck worrying all night long about why Antonio had run home so early. Maybe he really did have to go. But it still bothered Lovino. Usually Antonio wouldn't just leave him like that.

Having nothing better to do, Lovino decided to go to bed early. He really could use the sleep, seeing as he hardly got any the night before.

* * *

><p>The next day was eerily similar to the previous. There was no time for Lovino to speak to Antonio until Spanish. As the teacher passed their tests back, Antonio seemed to be quite jittery. Lovino got his test back first; 100 percent.<p>

Shortly afterward, Antonio got his back. His face paled and he quickly turned the paper over so no one could see it. Lovino watched him, a sense of dread in his stomach. Had he passed it? Failed it? Based on Antonio's reaction, he guessed it was the latter.

That meant one good thing: Lovino would still be tutoring Antonio. Right?

Antonio was much slower when the bell rang that day.

"I failed," he muttered to Lovino.

"I can see-"

"Aww, what is this? Did Toni fail his Spanish test? Does he need his little Lovi to kiss him and make it better?" Antonio and Lovino both whipped around to see Gilbert standing behind them, leaning against a wall.

"Gilbert-" Antonio started, but before he could finish, Gilbert ripped the test out of his hands.

"An _F_? From Antonio? Oh, what will mommy say about this?" Gilbert said sarcastically.

"Shut the fuck up, Gilbert," Lovino hissed threateningly.

"Toni! Looks like you need your little lover boy to come in and save your ass! How stupid can you be to fail this test?" Gilbert clutched his chest in fake surprise.

"Shut up, Gilbert." Antonio's voice shook, and he looked defeated. Once again, he turned on his heel and ran away.

"Run along, cry baby!" Gilbert called after him. "Hahaha wow, what a loser," he chuckled.

"You _douche_," Lovino growled, and took the test from Gilbert while he was laughing.

"Hey! Come back here!" But Lovino just followed the path Antonio had taken. He guessed the Spaniard had gone home, so that would be the first place he would visit.

* * *

><p>It had gotten pretty chilly by the time Lovino turned onto Antonio's street, so he zipped his jacket up. A thin blanket of snow hugged the earth, and it crunched every time Lovino took a step. As he approached Antonio's house, he decided to check in the garden first to see if the older boy was there.<p>

Sure enough, as soon as he turned into the backyard, Lovino saw Antonio leaning up against the back of the house with his face in his hands. He didn't notice as the younger boy walked up to him.

"Antonio?" Antonio opened his eyes and jumped, startled.

"Lovino! What are you doing here?"

"I brought your test back… Are you okay?" He pushed some snow around with his boot, not looking at Antonio.

"I guess… but why would you come to see me? Don't you agree with Gilbert?" There was hurt in his eyes, and Lovino sunk down to sit next to him.

"No, bastard, you're not stupid. Gilbert is an ass, and he was wrong. Don't listen to him. Just because he doesn't like you doesn't mean that other people hate you too." He bit his bottom lip.

"Are you saying…?"

"Dammit, Antonio, how slow are you? I fucking like you, and I'm not going to sit here and watch you mope around because Gilbert-" his face turned bright red as he realized what he had said.

"Did you just-"

"Fuck it, Antonio, I'm leaving-" but before he could move, Antonio kissed him. Surprised, Lovino didn't realize what had happened, but slowly registered what was going on and kissed Antonio back. He never expected this to happen, and when they finally pulled away for air, Lovino was both disappointed and happy.

"I'm sorry Lovino, I'm so sorry!" Antonio cried after seeing the expression on Lovino's face.

"S-shut up," Lovino said and kissed Antonio again. He felt Antonio's gloved hand find his cold one and hold it, and when they pulled away, Antonio smiled.

"You should come inside and get warmed up," Antonio suggested, noticing Lovino's hands were turning red, as well as his face, but he couldn't tell if that was from the cold or not.

"If I die out here you're responsible," Lovino muttered, before following Antonio inside. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but he knew things would be different now, and he was quite fine with that.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: wow, short chapter is short D| But at least we've got some spamano action in here? Righhht. Thanks to everyone for putting up with the long waits in between updates. I've got a little (okay, actually REALLY BIG) surprise for you all. That will probably be announced next chapter.**

**I'm almost done with this story, honestly. There will probably be only one or two more chapters. Every review, favorite, and alert I get makes my day. Thank you all for sticking with it and taking the time to review. You're all fantabulous :D**


	16. Chapter 16

Lovino followed Antonio into the house, not sure what to expect, and couldn't make sense of any of his emotions. He was still a bit stunned from what had just happened. Antonio hadn't said anything, but he had kissed Lovino first. Did that mean he liked him? Or was he just messing around?

"What are you-" Lovino began, but he was silenced as Antonio turned around and kissed him again. _Shit, he's a good kisser_, Lovino thought, but pulled away. He wanted answers. Antonio stared at him, confusion in his eyes.

"F-fuck, bastard, don't just stand there molesting my sexy lips all day. Say something," Lovino muttered, turning red and looking away.

"What do you mean, Lovino?" Antonio asked, cocking his head to the side. Lovino bit his lip.

"W-well… fuck, do you like me too?" The younger boy said so quickly, that it took Antonio a moment to understand what he had said. Then he started laughing.

"Oh, Lovi, of course I do! I've liked you almost since the very moment I laid eyes on you! I thought it was obvious!" he said, taking Lovino's other hand in his own very warm one.

"Dammit, I never said you could call me Lovi," Lovino said, face turning red as he looked at their hands. Honestly, it made him happier than he had been in a very long time.

"Hmm, but you know I'll do it anyways. You never even complain."

"Fuck you."

"Mmmm. So what does this make us?"

"I don't know," Lovino shifted his feet. He really didn't know. He had never expected this to happen at all.

"Boyfriends?" Antonio asked, raising his eyebrows.

"B-bastard..." but he smiled nonetheless.

Antonio didn't say anything, just leaned down to kiss Lovino again. He wasn't sure how Francis would react to this news, and he wasn't sure about Gilbert. All he knew was that he was perfectly content to stay with Lovino like this forever, after waiting for so long. And all that time he had thought the younger boy hated him.

Lovino felt the same way, but was sure Feliciano would throw a party if he found out. Right now, that didn't matter, and he shyly wrapped his arms around the taller boy's neck, kissing him back.

* * *

><p>Three months later saw Lovino laying down on Antonio's lap in the latter's backyard, their fingers laced together.<p>

"It's nice out, isn't it, Lovi?" Antonio asked, staring up at the bright blue sky.

"Sure," Lovino murmured, eyes closed. "Fantastic."

Antonio laughed and squeezed his hand. It had taken a while, but Gilbert and Antonio were talking again. As it had turned out, Gilbert and Matthew had been having some relationship issues, causing the albino to snap. Luckily things were better now, and he and Antonio were on good terms once more.

When Antonio had told Francis the news, he had snorted and told him he took long enough. Antonio had been confused, but just went along with it. Gilbert hadn't said much, but he smiled and told Antonio the same thing.

For Lovino, telling Feliciano about his new relationship with Antonio had turned out to be a very bad idea. Lovino was almost right on the spot when he thought that his brother would throw a party. Feliciano had skipped around the house all day, shouting that fate had come true, proclaiming that he had seen the signs in the pasta. He only shut up when Lovino whacked him in the face with a pillow. Stuffed with a couple rocks. The younger brother had fallen to the floor, and Lovino stormed out the back door, only grabbing his jacket before he left.

Ludwig had been over (much to Lovino's great displeasure) and had watched the whole thing wide-eyed, only helping Feliciano when Lovino had left (to go back to Antonio's house, presumably). Feliciano had gotten back up when Ludwig kissed him on the lips.

"A kiss from the prince~!" Feliciano cheered, and Ludwig turned a deep shade of red that could compete with Lovino's blush. Or Antonio's tomatoes.

So as Lovino lay there, under the warm spring sun, he felt that at long last, everything had worked out. The pieces had all been put together, and everything was finally the way it was supposed to be. He couldn't help but smile, and Antonio bent down to kiss him, happy to see Lovino smiling. The bracelet Lovino had given him after winter break was still on his wrist, and the silver turtle glinted in the sunlight.

They both knew that things were perfect, and neither of them could ask for something better.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And, thus concludes this story. I want to give everybody who has given me notifications for this story a BIIIIG hug. Thank you so much for putting up with everything. I know this chapter isn't really wonderful... To be honest, I got really lazy OTL**

**I'm quite happy to finally be done with my first fanfiction, and I know it definitely isn't the best.**

**But now, time for the surprise!**

**I'm writing another Spamano story! It's going to be very different from this one, but I can guarantee that it will be much, much better. The first chapter will be coming out very soon, so keep an eye out for that! Thank you to all my lovely readers for everything you have given me! You have no idea how much I appreciate all the notifications! **


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